ST. AUGUSTINE –
Chase Fiddler scored a team-high 14 points as Flagler College held off Georgia Southwestern State University 65-62 in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at Flagler Gymnasium.
Flagler improved to 11-3 overall and 4-1 in the Peach Belt. Georgia Southwestern lost its third game in a row and dropped to 4-8 overall and remained winless in league play (0-4).
"You have to find ways to win games like that in our league," said head coach
Chad Warner. "Credit to Coach Coombs and his team. They were ready to play and we were fortunate to win."
The Saints couldn't miss as they made their first nine shots from the field and raced out to a 22-9 lead. Flagler held a double-digit lead for the majority of the first half before settling on a 31-24 advantage at the half.
The Hurricanes used a 24-4 run that closed the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second to take a 38-33 lead with 16:05 left in the game.
Trailing 59-57,
Chris Metzger sank a pair of free throws to tie the game at 59 with 1:53 left to go. Just 30 seconds later,
Jalen Barr made a pair of free throws to give the Saints the lead for good. Flagler made all eight free throws it took with under two minutes left in the game.
Derrick Ellis, Jr. added 13 points, four assists, and three steals for the Saints. Metzger finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Barr also grabbed seven boards and tallied three steals. Jaziec Lottie tallied a game-high five assists.
Flagler forced 20 GSW turnovers and converted them into 25 points.
Dontevius Tatum led all scorers with 23 points and he added seven rebounds for the Hurricanes. Jarrett Adderton contributed 16 points and five rebounds while Kevin Kone tacked on 11 points and eight rebounds.
Flagler heads north on Saturday to face Young Harris College at 3:30 p.m.
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