DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Isaiah Johnson led four Young Harris College men's basketball players in double figures with a career-high 28 points as the Mountain Lions held off the University of North Georgia 88-83 Wednesday (Feb. 4) evening at Memorial Hall.
The Mountain Lions won their second consecutive game as they improved to 7-12 overall and to 4-9 n the league while North Georgia fell to 13-7 and 7-6. Young Harris will return to action Saturday (Feb. 7) when they will host the University of North Carolina at Pembroke at the YHC Basketball Arena.
Young Harris took a 43-36 lead at the half as the Mountain Lions shot a sizzling 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the field. C.J. Wilson led the Mountain Lions with 15 of his 19 points in the opening 20 minutes.
The Mountain Lions converted their first two second-half possessions into points as Young Harris opened up an 11-point lead (47-36) on a steal and dunk by Kevin Altidor, who finished with 25 points – one shy of his career-high – and a team-high nine rebounds. Young Harris scored 18 points off North Georgia's 15 turnovers.
North Georgia scored the game's next nine points as the Nighthawks closed within two points (47-45) as Ebo Smith hit a jumper with 17:15 remaining. However, the Mountain Lions, which shot over 50 percent from the field (.508) for only the second time this season - scored 10 of the next 11 points as they reopened their 11-point advantage (57-45) on a Johnson layup with 14:08 left. Johnson scored six points during the decisive run.
"Our big three – Kevin, Isaiah and C.J. – played really well tonight," said YHC head coach Pete Herrmann. "Everyone contributed tonight. We were very confident we could make our shots tonight when we needed it."
The Nighthawks climbed to within four points three different times, the last coming at 65-61 on two Shaquan Cantrell free throws with 7:13 to play. However, the Mountain Lions had the answer again as they pushed their advantage back to 11 points (73-62) after a Johnson three-pointer with 5:03 remaining.
North Georgia got within three points (86-83) after a Smith layup with 11 seconds left.
Johnson also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for the Mountain Lions while Ben Waterhouse added a career-high 10 points.
Cantrell led North Georgia with 19 points and nine rebounds while Sean Brennan added 17 points. Smith finished with 11 points.
