ORROW, Ga. | Brian Harper and Ryle Owens each scored 19 points to lead Young Harris College to a 90-70 Peach Belt Conference men's basketball victory over Clayton State University Wednesday (Feb. 5) evening.

The Mountain Lions improved to 6-15 overall and to 4-9 in the league, while the Lakers slipped to 3-17 and 1-12. Young Harris returns to action Saturday (Feb. 8) with a 3:30 p.m. PBC game against Francis Marion University at the YHC Basketball Arena.

Young Harris, which led for over 37 minutes, took control of the game midway through the first half as they scored eight unanswered points to open up an 11-point advantage (26-15) after Harper sank two free throws with 9:09 remaining. The Lakers got as close as six points (28-22), but the Mountain Lions responded with seven consecutive points to take a 36-23 lead on a Nate Louis layup with 1:49 left before intermission. Young Harris, which held Clayton State to 28 percent (7-of-25) shooting from the field in the opening 20 minutes, led 40-25 at the half.

Clayton State trimmed the deficit to three points (56-53) after Bryan Hart hit a three-pointer with 11:37 to go, but again YHC put together a spurt, oustscoring the Lakers 7-0 to open up a 65-55 lead on a Seth McCoy three-pointer with 8:11 left.  The closest Clayton State would get the rest of the way was nine points. 

Young Harris outrebounded Clayton State 48-32, including a 15-5 margin on the offensive glass. The Mountain Lions scored 28 points off 16 Laker turnovers and also held a 14-4 advantage on second chance points.

Harper added six assists and five rebounds for the Mountain Lions, while Owens led YHC with eight rebounds. Jonathan King tossed in 14 points, while Brian Free added 10. Kristian Collins tallied eight points and seven rebounds. 

Hart led the Lakers with 26 points and seven rebounds, while Byron Abrams posted 12 points.