(DAHLONEGA) – The No. 16 University of North Georgia men’s basketball team secured its eighth win of the season with a 77-61 non-conference win over Mount Olive on Saturday afternoon in Lynn Cottrell Arena at the UNG Convocation Center. AJ White scored a game-high 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor including 6-of-9 from long range.
Cayden Charles added a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds while Eric Jones contributed with 14 points on seven rebounds. Frank Champion added a balanced stat line of eight points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Mount Olive held its only lead of the game with a 3-2 edge in the opening minute, but North Georgia countered with an 11-2 rally over the next three-plus minutes to take a 13-5 advantage.
Sutton Smith’s three-pointer at the 10:39 mark of the first half extended the Nighthawks’ lead to 28-17 and North Georgia would hold a comfortable double figure lead for the remainder of the contest.
Mount Olive used a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 44-26 with 17:16 remaining, but the Nighthawks responded with eight straight points to extend the lead to 54-33 and put the game out of reach.
Ryan Roberts came off the bench for the Trojans to score a team-best 15 points.
The Nighthawks return to action with a road trip to Harrogate, Tenn. to take on No. 23 Lincoln Memorial on Dec. 19 when they round out the non-conference portion of their schedule.
