SAVANNAH, Ga. | Young Harris College had six players in double figures as the Mountain Lions led for all but 52 seconds in their 98-94 Peach Belt Conference men's basketball victory over Armstrong State University Wednesday (Jan. 4) evening at Alumni Arena.

The Mountain Lions won their fourth game in a row as they improved to 9-3 overall and to 3-0 in the Peach Belt, while the Pirates slipped to 6-6 and 1-2. Young Harris remains on the road as they travel to St. Augustine, Florida, Saturday (Jan. 7) for a 3:30 p.m. PBC contest against Flagler College.

"Both teams played well on both ends of the court," said YHC head coach Pete Herrmann. "It was a very good team win with everyone contributing. We had six players in double figures and two of them finished with double doubles. It was a very good win on the road for us."

YHC's C.J. Wilson led all scorers with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting and dished out seven assists. Ben Waterhouse, who was 5-of-10 from three-point distance, added 18 points, while Corey Nelson scored a career high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Marcellus Roberts had a double double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Marques McKoy contributed 12 points, while Bjorn Walker tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds. 

Young Harris, which hadn't played since Dec. 19, came out of the gates on fire, hitting nine of its first 11 shots as the Mountain Lions opened up a 13-point lead (30-17) on a McKoy layup with 11:21 remaining in the first half. Young Harris shot 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the field in the opening 20 minutes and finished the game hitting 59.1 percent. 

Armstrong State battled back and closed the margin to three points (48-45) at the half. The Pirates took their only lead of the game at 51-50 on a Jamison Jeffers jumper with 18:29 remaining. Young Harris used a 10-2 run to open up a nine-point lead (71-60) on a dunk by Roberts with 12 minutes left. 

The Pirates battled back again and got as close as three points (83-80), but the Mountain Lions reopened its nine-point edge (90-81) on a Waterhouse three-pointer that culminated a 7-1 run with 101 seconds to go. Armstrong got within two on two occasions, but every time the Mountain Lions were able to thwart the Pirate uprising.

Corey Tillery led the Pirates with 23 points, while KJ James added 19. Jeffers finished with 16 points while Denzel Council recorded 13 points and 13 rebounds. Denzel Collins also finished in double figures with 11 points.