MISENHEIMER, N.C. — Redshirt-junior
Shaquan Cantrell was triumphant in his return, scoring 36 points in 33 minutes to help lead the University of North Georgia men's basketball team to a 104-87 victory over Emmanuel (Ga.) Friday evening in the Peach Belt/Conference Carolinas Challenge. The Nighthawks start the season 1-0 with the season-opening win.
Emmanuel took the early lead after tipoff and held the lead for nearly the entire first 12 minutes of play until the Nighthawks closed the half with a 29-6 run over the last eight minutes to take a 57-34 lead into the half. The Lions would outscore UNG by six in the second half to give the game its final 104-87 score.
Tyler Dominy,
Ebo Smith, and newcomer
Denzell Hosch joined Cantrell in double digit scoring. Cantrell led the rebounding effort with nine on the night, falling one board short of a double-double.
NOTES
- Cantrell's 36 points marked a new career high for the junior from Gainesville. He sat out last season with a shoulder injury after a 2014-15 seaon where he was the team's leading scorer with 13.2 points per game as a sophomore.
- Cantrell connected on 17-of-23 (74%) shots from the floor to lead the Nighthawks' offensive effort in which the team made good on 44-of-68 (65%) of its shots, including 9-of-16 (56%) from 3-point land.
- Smith and Hosch combined to make 7-of-10 shots from long range.
- North Georgia led by as many as 28, 76-48, following a 3-pointer by Smith.
- UNG held a +11 advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Lions 37-26.
- The Nighthawks assisted on 28 of their 44 made field goals as
Sean Brennan and Ephriam Tshimanga easy dished out a game-high seven assists.
- Emerson McClung led four Emmanuel players in double figures with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the floor.
- The win was career victor No. 250 for head coach
Chris Faulkner. He has collected 178 wins as skipper at North Georgia and 72 at Piedmont.
NEXT
The Nighthawks will wrap up the PBC/CC Challenge with a matchup against host, Pfeiffer at 4 p.m., tomorrow, Nov. 12.
