MORROW, Ga. – The No. 15 University of North Georgia men's basketball dominated Clayton State in its regular season finale to the tune of a 90-69 win Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore guard AJ White and sophomore center Colin Turner combined for 57 points as the two exploded for career nights.

Turner had scored in double figures just once in his career before Saturday. Against the Lakers he erupted for a career-high 30 points on an unbelievable 12-for-13 (92.3 percent) mark from the floor. 

The 6-foot-9 sophomore added 12 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. Turner's previous rebounding career high was just seven before he grabbed three offensive rebounds and nine defensive rebounds Saturday. 

White added 27 points on 11-for-15 shooting with three triples to contribute to the win. The big scoring night for the second-year Nighthawk marks his fourteenth 20-plus point performance this season and the seventeenth of his career. It's also White's third consecutive game with 20 or more points. In that span, White is shooting 59.5 percent from the floor.

UNG dominated in the first 20 minutes of the game, outscoring the Lakers 55-31 in the first half. 

White had 23 of his 27 points in the first half to help his team to the big lead. The Nighthawks primarily maintained their 24-point halftime lead in the second half on their way to the 21-point win.  

As a team, UNG went 37-for-60 (61.7 percent) from the floor and scored 46 points in the paint. 37 field goals is the most made in a game this season for the team. 

The shooting performance is the third best of the season for head coach Dan Evans' team. In fact, two of the three best nights from the floor for the Nighthawks came against Clayton State this season. In total, UNG went 65-of-104 (62.5 percent) in its two games against the Lakers this year

Senior forward Eric Jones was the third and final scorer in double figures as he had 10 points while adding nine rebounds. 

With the win, the Nighthawks gave themselves a chance to become Co-Champions of the Peach Belt Regular Season. They needed Lander to defeat USC Aiken a few hours later, but the Pacers took down the Bearcats 75-68 to win the outright PBC title. 

Now UNG prepares for the PBC Tournament which begins Wednesday, Mar. 6. With a 22-6 overall record and 13-5 mark in conference play, the Nighthawks have earned second place and the 2-seed in PBC postseason play. 

UNG will face Georgia Southwestern in the first round of the conference tournament. Tip times for the entire slate of games in the opening round will be announced by the league office in the coming days. 

The Nighthawks went 1-1 against Georgia Southwestern this season, winning 83-77 at home and losing 80-71 on the road. 

In his fifth season, Evans is still looking for his first PBC Tournament win with the Nighthawks after having been unsuccessful in three previous tries (2020-21 tournament canceled due to COVID-19).