YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. | Young Harris College got nearly half of its offense off Georgia Southwestern State University turnovers as the Mountain Lions defeated the Hurricanes 90-80 in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Wednesday (Feb. 17) evening at the YHC Basketball Arena.
 
The Mountain Lions with the win improved to 14-12 overall and moved into a three-way tie for first place in the PBC West Division with the University of Montevallo and Columbus State University at 12-5 with two games remaining in the regular season. Young Harris will travel to Clayton State University Saturday (Feb. 21) for a 5:30 p.m. contest in Morrow, Georgia. Georgia Southwestern fell to 10-14 and 6-11.
 
Young Harris scored 39 of its points off 22 Georgia Southwestern turnovers as the Mountain Lions defeated the Hurricanes for the first time in the Enchanted Valley.  The Mountain Lions took control of the game midway through the first half as scored 10 consecutive points to take a 31-17 lead on two Devin Coleman free throws with 6:30 remaining. The free throws were set up after a Coleman steal. It was one of five turnovers committed by the Hurricanes during the YHC rally.
 
Georgia Southwestern cut the margin to seven (32-25) on a Brandon Price jumper with 4:20 to go, but the Mountain Lions closed the opening 20 minutes on a 12-5 run to take a 43-28 lead at the half after a Marcellus Roberts dunk.
 
The Mountain Lions scored six of the first seven points in the second half to open up a 20-point lead (49-29) on a layup by Roberts with 16:13 remaining off a steal by J.B. Charles.  Georgia Southwestern pulled within eight points (56-48) on an Adam Thoseby jumper in the paint with 12:44 to go.
 
However, that would be as close as the Hurricanes would get as Young Harris responded by scoring 16 of the next 18 points to open its largest lead of the game – 22 points (72-50) – on a Bjorn Walker dunk with 8:54 remaining. Georgia Southwestern got as close as 10 points the remainder of the way.
 
C.J. Wilson led Young Harris with 25 points - 18 in the second half – to go along with seven assists, six rebounds and four steals. Coleman added a career-high 16 points while Ben Waterhouse and Charles tossed in 12 points each. Marques McKoy tallied 11 points and six rebounds while Walker finished with seven points, five rebounds and five steals.
 
Damien Leonard led the Hurricanes with 21 points while Thoseby added 19 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Jure Gunjina scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Price added 12 points.