DAHLONEGA, Ga. - Junior guard Brandon Price made 9 of 12 shots and finished with 20 points and seven assists to lead Georgia Southwestern past the University of North Georgia, 83-78, in Memorial Hall on Wednesday evening. GSW had four of its five starters score in double digits.
The Hurricanes improved their record to 9-13 overall and 5-10 in the Peach Belt Conference while North Georgia fell to 5-19, 3-12 in the PBC. Southwestern is 12-7 against UNG since becoming a member of NCAA Division II in 2006-07.
The Nighthawks jumped out to a 10-4 lead on Wednesday and held that six-point cushion until the 12:37 mark of the first half.
GSW chipped away at the deficit and Terence Johnson's jumper with 8:07 left until the break put the Hurricanes ahead 19-17. Southwestern would not trail again.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Price and Adam Thoseby in the closing minute of the opening session helped the Hurricanes take a 45-33 lead into the locker room.
GSW started the second half on a 14-6 run to stretch its lead to a game-high 20 points with 14:10 remaining.
UNG answered quickly with an 8-0 run to pull within a dozen at the 11:41 mark.
The Hurricanes lead remained 12 points, 70-58, with 6:33 to play, but UNG had one more run left.
Ebo Smith scored five straight points for the Nighthawks, teammate Sean Brennan drained a 3-pointer and, following a Thoseby layup, Smith sank a 3-pointer of his own to close the gap to five points with 4:22 to play.
Damien Leonard followed with a clutch 3-pointer on the ensuing possession for GSW to stretch the lead back to eight and give the Hurricanes the breathing room needed to close out the victory.
Any hopes the Nighthawks had to complete the comeback were squashed as Thoseby sank a 5 of 6 from the free throw line in the final 25 seconds.
Thoseby finished with a game-high 24 points. Chandler Thomas posted his second double-double of the season, finishing with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Jure Gunjina added 10 points.
Smith scored 18 of his team-high 20 points in the second half to lead UNG. Michael Varrichione added in 19 points and T.J. Williams chipped in 15.
The Hurricanes return home to host Francis Marion on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. for PINK Day in the Dome.