YOUNG HARRIS, Ga.  |  Nicksen Blanc and Zion Williams each scored 18 points as Young Harris College rallied from 14 points down to beat Flagler College 79-75 in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Saturday (Jan. 13) afternoon at the YHC Basketball Arena.

The Mountain Lions improved to 4-11 overall and 3-6 in the PB, while the Saints fell to 4-8 and 1-7. Young Harris returns to action Monday (Jan. 15) as they host Augusta University in a 3:30 p.m. PBC contest. 

The Mountain Lions started off strong after a steal and layup by Antonio Wade to open the scoring. Young Harris had a 10-point lead (24-14) after a layup by Wade with 7:26 left in the first half. The Mountain Lions would go 4:30 without a basket as Flagler capitalized scoring 11 points during the span as they took a 25-24 lead on a Cortlin Davis layup with 4:27 remaining.

Flagler, which lead 32-28 at the half, scored 11 unanswered points in the second half to open up a 50-40 lead on a Phil Bruce layup with 13:24 to play. The Saints would take their largest lead of the game - 14 points (69-55)  - on a Sam Guenther three-pointer with 6:45 to go. 

The Saints would go the rest of the game without scoring a field goal, managing only six free throws in the final 6:45 as they missed five field goals and turned the ball over five times.

The Mountain Lions clawed back into the game as the used a 14-1 run to pull within a point (70-69) after Blanc hit one of two free throws with 2:43 remaining. Blanc had fix points and four offensive rebounds and Williams added five more points during the comeback.

"We finally finished a game," said YHC head coach Pete Herrmann. "Zion gave us a good lift, while Nicksen had a double double and was tough down the stretch." 

After Cortlin Davis hit two free throws 31 seconds later to give Flagler a 72-69 lead, the Mountain Lions tied the game at 72 on a Wade three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:43 to play. In a game that saw 16 lead changes, the two teams exchanged the lead two more times before the Mountain Lions took the lead for good at  77-75 on a Ben Waterhouse three-pointer from the top of the key with 31.9 seconds to play.

"We made some clutch shots down the stretch, especially on the three-pointers by Ben and Antonio," said Herrmann.

After a Saint turnover - their 17th of the game, the Mountain Lions, who scored 25 points off turnovers, sealed the win with two Wade free throws with 13.1 seconds left to give YHC a 79-75 lead. 

Blanc finished with a double double as he grabbed 12 rebounds for Young Harris, which only committed seven turnovers. The 18 points for Williams was a career high. Wade tallied 14 points. Corey Nelson and Waterhouse each finished with 12 points. Waterhouse, who also grabbed eight rebounds, moved into third place on the all-time scoring list in the NCAA era at YHC with 1,073 points, passing assistant coach and fellow Australian Steve Viterbo (1,067).

Jean led the Saints with 20 points and six rebounds, while Davis had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Williams also pulled down 12 rebounds.