Young Harris College Athletics

YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. | Young Harris College scored 10 unanswered points midway through the fourth quarter as the Mountain Lions rallied for a 66-59 victory over Brenau University Saturday (Dec. 12) afternoon at the YHC Basketball Arena.
 
The Mountain Lions, which hadn't played in 10 days due to final exams, improved to 5-2 while the Golden Tigers fell to 7-2. Young Harris returns to action Thursday (Dec. 17) when they open up Peach Belt Conference schedule with a 5:30 p.m. home contest against Armstrong State University.
 
Young Harris jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead after a steal and layup by Meredith Tarver at the 5:06 mark of the first quarter; however, the Golden Tigers took their first lead of the game at 18-17 on a three-pointer by Briah Woods with 8:02 remaining in the first half.
 
From that point, it was a tightly-contested game as there were six ties and six lead changes between the two teams. Brenau took its final lead of the game at 53-50 on a three-pointer by Autumn Dodson with 5:10 to play. However, Sarah Garner responded by nailing a three-pointer on the next YHC possession to retie the game at 53.
 
That basket started the deciding 10-0 run for the Mountain Lions. Jenny Vernet gave Young Harris the lead for good with a layup at 55-53 with 3:53 to go. Garner added another three pointer and Jasmine Knight added a jumper in the paint to push the YHC advantage to 60-53 with 2:05 remaining.

"Give a lot of credit to Brenau," said Young Harris coach Matt Stearsman. "They came out in the second and third quarters and hit us in the mouth. We didn't respond the way I would have liked. It took everything we had to win this game. I think that is a product of not playing for 10 days. At the end of the day, I'm proud that the players on this team made the plays to win."

Brenau closed to within three points (62-59) on a Dodson jumper with 38 seconds left, but Young Harris held off the Golden Tigers by hitting all four free throw opportunities in the final 16 seconds.
 
Young Harris, which scored 25 points off of the 24 turnovers committed by Brenau, was led by Vernet's 17 point and seven rebounds. Tarver added 14 points and led the Mountain Lions with five steals while Garner added a career-high 12 points.
 
Kalin Williams led the Golden Tigers with 21 points.