ST. AUGUSTINE – No. 10 (NABC Division II Top 25) Flagler College won its first Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship with a 73-60 victory over Georgia Southwestern State University Sunday afternoon at Flagler Gymnasium.
Flagler (15-2) receives the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II South Regional at Valdosta, Georgia, which runs March 13-16. Georgia Southwestern (13-5) will wait and see if it receives an at-large berth. The bracket will be released tonight at 10:30 p.m. on ncaa.com.
Click here to view live.
"I thought we competed really hard as a group tonight," said head coach
Chad Warner. "We were able to defend well enough to give ourselves a chance and then Jaizec (Lottie) made some special plays for us. This is definitely a night we will remember for a long time, and thankfully we get to keep playing."
The Saints raced out of the gates to a 15-4 lead and never trailed in the game. Flagler held a 32-26 lead at the half.
Tournament MVP
Jaizec Lottie gave Flagler its largest lead (43-30) with a layup early in the second half.
The Hurricanes were able to close to within single digits, but could never get and closer than five points.
Chris Metzger's layup off a missed shot with 4:17 left gave Flagler a 65-58 lead. That sparked an 8-0 run that sealed the victory.
For the seventh time this season, Lottie broke the 30-point plateau as he finished with a game-high 31. He made 11-of-18 from the field and sank five 3-pointers. Lottie also managed to grab eight rebounds, dish out four assists, and tally three steals.
Derrick Ellis, Jr. joined Lottie on the all-tournament team as he supplied 18 points and had three assists.
Chris Metzger contributed 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
Jalen Barr, another all-tourney pick, had nine points, seven rebounds, and blocked three shots.
The Saints forced 18 Hurricane turnovers and converted those into 21 points. Flagler also outscored Georgia Southwestern in the paint, 42-24.
Baris Ulker led Georgia Southwestern with 17 points and five rebounds. Dontevius Tatum added 14 points while Jarrett Adderton tacked on 13 points. Tatum and Adderton were selected to the all-tournament team along with Devon Higgs who finished with a team-high nine rebounds, six points, two blocked shots, and two steals.
NOTE: The last time Flagler won a postseason conference tournament was the Florida Sun Conference tourney, also held at Flagler Gym, at the end of the 2003-04 season.
Be the first to know what's going on with the Saints -- Follow @FlaglerSports on Twitter, follow FlaglerSports on Instagram, become a fan of Flagler College Athletics on Facebook and subscribe to the Flagler College Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with Flagler Athletics.
