YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Larrentis Thomas and Terrell Harris each scored 13 points as Georgia College held off Young Harris College 53-50 in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Wednesday (Jan. 28) evening at the YHC Basketball Arena.

The Bobcats improved to 9-11 overall and to 3-8 in the league while the Mountain Lions fell to 5-12 and 2-9. Young Harris will host the University of South Carolina Aiken in a 3:30 p.m. PBC contest Saturday (Jan. 31).

Young Harris scored the game's first eight points and jumped out to a 14-2 lead as Kevin Altidor, who led the Mountain Lions with 18 points and 10 rebounds, hit a layup with 12:37 remaining in the first half. However, the Mountain Lions only shot 29.0 percent from the floor (9-of-31) in the opening 20 minutes and saw the Bobcats close to within three points (27-24) at the half.

A three to open the second half by Ryan Blumenthal tied the game at 27 and the Bobcats took lead for good minutes later at 31-29 on Thomas' layup. Georgia College expanded its lead to 10 points (46-36) on Thomas' putback with 7:31 left.

The Bobcats still led by 10 points (49-39) with five minutes remaining before the Mountain Lions reeled off the next eight points to close to within two points (49-47) on a layup by Ben Waterhouse with 2:26 to play.  Back-to-back three-pointers by C.J. Wilson and Isaiah Johnson keyed the YHC rally.

Georgia College broke its scoreless drought when Harris nailed a three-pointer before Young Harris responded with an old-fashioned three-point play by Johnson to get within 52-50 with 1:45 to play.

The teams then traded several empty trips over the next 80 seconds. Johnson stole an inbounds pass with 18 seconds left and called a timeout that the Mountain Lions didn't have, resulting in a technical foul. Blumenthal hit one of the two foul shots to give Georgia College 53-50 lead. Young Harris had a chance to tie the game, but Wilson's three-point attempt fell short with five seconds left.

Thomas and Rio McMillian each grabbed eight rebounds for the Bobcats while Johnson added 12 points, six rebounds and four steals for Young Harris. Wilson finished with nine points and six assists for the Mountain Lions, who were limited to their second-fewest points in a game since basketball was brought back in 2010.

"I can't ask for a better effort defensively than what we are giving," said YHC head coach Pete Herrmann. "Everything offensively was a struggle. Against a team that played zone, you can't go 4-of-22 (from three-point range)."