Box Score

GREENWOOD, SC – The North Georgia men’s basketball team picked up their third straight victory Saturday afternoon, making it five victories in their last six games with a 79-65 over Lander University at Horne Arena in Peach Belt Conference action.

The Saints continue to roll in Peach Belt Conference play, winning their third straight game and improving to 8-6 overall on the season and 3-1 in league action. Lander falls to three games under the .500 mark at 6-9 on the year and 1-6 in conference action.

The Saints jumped all over the Bearcats in the early going, taking their first double-digit lead of the game off a three-pointer by Bernard Rimmer just five minutes into the game to give North Georgia an 11-point lead at 16-5.

Michael Moynihan gave the Saints their largest first-half lead with 5:09 to play in the opening period as the senior connected on a pair of free throws to give North Georgia a 19-point advantage at 37-18.

Lander would wake up over the final four minutes of the opening period however, going on a 14-5 run to cut the North Georgia lead to just 10 at 42-32 heading into intermission.

In the second half, the Saints continued to lead, but Lander would hang around to make it interesting. North Georgia led by as many as 12 points on three different occasions early in the second half, but the Bearcats would trim the Saints’ lead to just five at the 10:52 mark as Brenton Harris hit a jumper to make it a 58-53 North Georgia lead. 

The Saints then took control, using a 17-5 run over the next eight minutes to take a commanding 75-58 lead, capped by Rimmer’s second three-pointer at the 2:47 mark. North Georgia would knock down free throws the final two minutes to come away with the 14-point victory.

Balanced scoring was the story of the day for the Saints who placed four players in double figures, led by Michael Moynihan who tallied 17, followed by Rimmer with 15, Carl Taylor with 13, and Andrew Bennett with 12.

Dane Sparrow paced the Bearcats with 15 points on 4-6 shooting from long range, while Harris had 14 points and Greg Smalls chipped in 11 points and five assists.

The Saints shot 57.4 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from behind the arc, and 75 percent free throw line, while Lander was 43.1 percent from the floor, 35.3 percent from long range, and just 50 percent from the charity stripe.

North Georgia will have a day off before returning to action on Monday evening, hosting USC Aiken in Memorial Hall with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. The matchup between the Saints and Pacers will be the only of the regular season as North Georgia plays their third game in the last five days.