DAHLONEGA — The North Georgia College & State University men’s basketball team used a second half surge and four players in double figures to come from behind and defeat Lynn University 76-70 Tuesday evening in Memorial Hall in non-conference action.
North Georgia improves to 3-1 on the season, bouncing back from a road loss to stay perfect at home on the 2009-10 season.
The Saints scored the game’s first bucket on an Andrew Bennett layup at the 17:58 mark, but Lynn came right back with a 10-2 run, capped by a pair of free throws from Kendall Butler to give the Fighting Knights a 10-4 advantage.
Lynn University would lead by as many as 13 points in the first half at the 10:13 mark as Jovan Robinson knocked down a three-pointer to give the Knights a 25-12 lead, but North Georgia put a run together down the stretch and used a Michael Moynihan three-pointer at the buzzer to pull to within five points at 39-35 at intermission.
The Saints scored 15 points off turnovers in the first half while staying in the game in the paint, scoring 20 first-half points in the paint to just eight for the Knights.
North Georgia opened the second half with a surge, as Kindall Butler hit back-to-back jumpers to tie the game, the first deadlock of the contest.
After Bernard Rimmer pulled the Saints even with Lynn once again at the 16:42 mark, Michael Moynihan gave North Georgia the lead for good, knocking down one of two free throws and hitting a running layup to give the Saints a 44-41 lead with 16 minutes left in the game.
Lynn University would take the lead one more time at the 12:13 mark, but North Georgia followed with an 11-0 run to take the lead for good, capped by a corner three-pointer by Pat Moynihan to give the Saints a 10-point lead with 8:47 remaining.
North Georgia led by as many as 13 points down the stretch before the Knights came fighting back and pulled to within two points with 39 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Chris Hall, but Hall missed a pair of three pointers in the final seconds and Michael Moynihan and Pat Moynihan joined forces to knock down four straight free throws. and give North Georgia a 76-70 victory.