YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Ryan May scored 13 points to lead four University of Montevallo players in double figures as the Falcons held on for a 69-57 Peach Belt Conference men's basketball victory over Young Harris College Wednesday (Jan. 14) evening at the YHC Basketball Arena.
The Falcons remain in first place in the Peach Belt's West Division with a 6-1 league mark and are 10-7 overall while the Mountain Lions fell to 5-8 and 2-5. Young Harris hits the road Saturday (Jan. 17) for a 3:30 p.m. PBC contest against Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina.
The Mountain Lions held Peach Belt Player of the Year Troran Brown to just eight points on 2-of-8 shooting from the floor before he fouled out.
"That was a really good team that we played tonight," said Young Harris head coach Pete Herrmann. "Beating us with the PBC Player of the Year (Troran Brown) in foul trouble, the other players stepped up.
"We played our tails off tonight, but we didn't make our shots and we didn't get to the free throw line enough," added Herrmann.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair until the Falcons scored the final six points of the first half to open up a 35-28 lead at the half. Montevallo opened the second half on a 13-6 run to take its largest lead of the game – 14 points (48-34) – on a Bryant Orange layup with 13:40 remaining.
Young Harris got as close as eight points (61-53) on an old-fashioned three-point play by Isaiah Johnson with 2:47 left, but the Falcons used six unanswered points to push the lead back to 14 points (67-53) on two free throws by Larry Slaughter with 67 seconds left.
Slaughter finished with 11 points and eight rebounds for Montevallo, which outscored the Mountain Lions 16-0 in second-chance points, while Malik Fields and Shykeem Jackson each tallied 10 points. Jackson added a team-high 12 rebounds as the Falcons held a 41-29 advantage on the boards.
Johnson led the Mountain Lions with 18 points and five assists while Sam Mike tied his career high with 10 points. Kevin Altidor nearly had another double double as he pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to go with his eight points and three blocked shots.
