YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. | C.J. Wilson scored 23 points to lead Young Harris College to an 88-70 Peach Belt Conference men's basketball victory over Clayton State University Saturday (Jan. 28) afternoon at the YHC Basketball Arena.

The Mountain Lions improved to 13-6 overall and remained in first place in the Peach Belt West Division with a 7-3 ledger, while the Lakers slipped to 11-9 and 6-5. Young Harris travels to Dahlonega, Georgia, Monday (Jan. 30) for a 7:30 p.m. PBC contest against the University of North Georgia. The game is also the first of two Battle of Blood Mountain contests between the two cross-mountain rivals.

Young Harris broke open the game midway through the first half as the Mountain Lions used an 18-6 run over a six-minute stretch to take a 27-14 lead on two free throws by Marcellus Roberts with 9:19 remaining. Clayton State trimmed the lead down to six (34-28) on a free throw by Nathan Powell with 5:05 left, but the Mountain Lions pushed their advantage back to 12 points (45-33) at the half.

Young Harris continued to extend its lead to as many as 24 points (66-42) when J.B. Charles nailed a three-pointer with 11:01 remaining in the game. The closest the Lakers would get the remainder of the game was 14 points with just over two minutes to play.

"We played terrific," said YHC head coach Pete Herrmann. "It was a good win against a pretty good team. If you hold a team to under 40 percent, you've got a chance. Bjorn held one of their best players to just 2-of-10 shooting and we got good boosts from J.B. and Marques off the bench."

The Mountain Lions held the Lakers to just 39.7 percent (27-of-68) shooting from the field and held a sizeable 52-38 advantage on the glass. Young Harris hit seven of its 13 shots from three-point range and shot 79.2 percent (23-of-29) from the free throw line.

Wilson added six assists and five rebounds. Charles, who hit 4-of-5 three-pointers, added 18 points,while Roberts recorded a double double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Marques McKoy scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Kyle Kincey led the Lakers with 18 points, while Jaumonee Byrd (13), Powell (11) and Maurice White (10) finished in double figures.