AMERICUS, Ga. -- A pair of second half breakdowns led to back-to-back losses for the Georgia Southwestern State University men's basketball team this week. GSW suffered its first home loss of the season on Wednesday when the University of North Georgia erased a seven-point deficit in the final two and a half minutes to force overtime and went on to defeat the Hurricanes, 72-65. On Saturday at Flagler College, a tied game at halftime turned into a one-sided affair as the Saints defeated GSW, 109-77. The Hurricanes exit the weekend with a 6-5 overall record and a 1-4 mark in the Peach Belt Conference.         

How It Happened vs. North Georgia: The Hurricanes held a five-point advantage at halftime, but were unable to pull away from the Nighthawks. GSW's largest lead of the evening came with 17:20 to play when Jamari Dean knocked down a jumper to put the Hurricanes up by eight points, 34-26.

North Georgia (6-7 overall, 1-4 PBC) controlled the next 10 minutes and worked itself back out front by taking a 47-45 lead. After the teams exchanged timeouts, GSW rattled off nine unanswered points and led by seven, 54-47 with 2:29 remaining.

The Hurricanes turned the ball over on its next possession, then missed its lone shot on the next trip down the floor. Dean slammed home a dunk to keep it a two-possession lead with 44 seconds to go, 56-51, but a pair of missed free throws by GSW on its next scoring opportunity opened the door for North Georgia's heroics. The Nighthawks capitalized on their chance to force overtime by draining a 3-pointer from the right corner with 17 seconds left. Despite having the ball last in regulation with time to set up a play, GSW was unable to get a clean look and its desperation attempt was off the mark. North Georgia opened the overtime period with a 3-pointer and the final result was never in question the rest of the way. 

Who Stood Out vs. North Georgia: Dean led all scorers with 21 points. He connected on 8 of 15 shots. Dean posted his fifth double-double of the season as he added a game-high 12 rebounds. Abdul Dial joined Dean with a double-double by scoring 11 points to go with 10 boards.

Ephraim Tshimanga scored 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead North Georgia. The Nighthawks received strong bench contributions from Zezmon Steeple and K.J. Jenkins as both chipped in 16 points.

How It Happened at Flagler: Flagler (7-6, 3-2 PBC) shot a sizzling 66.7 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes to pull away from GSW and the Saints drained 8 of 15 (53.3 percent) from long range. Over the same stretch, GSW missed all six shots from beyond the arc and was outrebounded, 25-10.

Who Stood Out at Flagler: Soloman Thomas led the Hurricanes in scoring on Saturday with 18 points. GSW had four of its five starters score in double figures as Dean dropped 17, Kahlon Whitley added 16 and Dial scored 11. Whitley fell just shy of his first double-double as he dished out nine assists.

Flagler was led by Damir Hadzic, who came off the bench and made 11 of 12 shots over his 22 minutes on the floor en route to a 24-point afternoon.   

Up Next: The Hurricanes return home to host Clayton State (2-10, 0-5 PBC) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. for Junior Service League Night.