LAKELAND, Fla. –
Kyle Young recorded a double-double with a team-high 20 points and he added 12 rebounds as Flagler College gave top-ranked (NABC Division II Top 25) Northwest Missouri State University all they could handle in an 88-75 loss in the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic Sunday night at the George W. Jenkins Field House.
Young earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
Flagler is 0-2 to start the year while three-time defending national champion Northwest Missouri is 2-0.
Malik Bryant added 13 points and
Jaylen Lemons contributed 11, but both had to deal with foul trouble. All of Lemons' points came in the second half.
Chase Fiddler sank three 3-pointers to account for his nine points.
Jax Bouknight and
Omar Figueroa added eight points apiece.
Isaiah Jackson led five Bearcats in double figures with a game-high 26 points. Diego Bernard added 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Luke Walters chipped in with 17 points while Byron Alexander and Bennett Stirtz each added 10 points.
An 11-2 spurt midway through the first half gave Northwest Missouri some separation. Bernard's old-fashioned three-point play sparked the run and gave the Bearcats a 17-13 lead.
Northwest's lead expanded to 20 (44-24) after a Walters trey and the Bearcats took a 47-34 lead into the half.
The Saints used a 15-2 run of their own in the second half to pull to within nine (73-64) after Lemons sank the second of two free throws with 7:16 left.
Flagler will head to Greenwood, South Carolina to participate in the Southeast Challenge at the end of the week. The Saints open with Southern Wesleyan University on Friday (Nov. 11) at 4:30 p.m.
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