AIKEN, S.C. – For the first time in program history, the No. 20 University of North Georgia men's basketball team will play for a Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship after a 58-53 win over Columbus State in the PBC Tournament Semifinals Thursday night.
Junior forward Frank Champion, who recorded a career-high 33 points and set a PBC Tournament single game record with 19 made free throws in the quarterfinals, once again lifted his team to a thrilling win Thursday.
Champion would not be stopped going 9-for-12 from the floor for 22 points while adding four rebounds and four assists.
The four time PBC All-Conference honoree is averaging 27.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and shooting 64 percent from the floor in the PBC Tournament.
He was the only scorer in double figures for the Nighthawks as they came from behind in their second consecutive game to advance to the next round of tournament play.
At one point, UNG trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half against the Cougars. After leading 27-23 at the break, CSU scored the first seven points of the second half to hold a 34-23 advantage at the 18:36 mark.
Head coach Dan Evans was forced to use a timeout. Over the next 11 minutes, the Nighthawks outscored the Cougars 21 to 11 to pull within a point, 45-44.
A few possessions later, a layup from Champion gave UNG a 48-47 lead, its first of the game since the score was 5-3.
Despite trailing 23 minutes and 53 seconds of game time, after Champion's bucket, the Nighthawks never looked back. They held the lead all the way until the final horn.
Defense and rebounding, pillars that Evans has built his program on, played pivotal roles in crunch time for UNG.
After UNG went up 48-47, sophomore guard Cayden Charles forced a steal on the other end. The turnover led to a triple for senior guard Hunter Shedenhelm, making it 51-47.
The next time down on defense, it was none other than Charles again forcing a steal. On offense, he would reap his own defensive benefits with a mid range jumper to put his team up by six.
With 1:04 remaining in the game, a bucket from CSU senior guard Wisdom Uboh made it 56-51. On the ensuing possession, the Nighthawks whittled the shot clock all the way down before Shedenhelm missed what would've been a dagger three-pointer.
Wisdom was fouled the next time down and made both free throws, pulling the Cougars within a possession at 56-53 with only 15 seconds on the scoreboard.
Forced to foul, CSU desperately needed a miss at the free throw line from Champion. That seemed unlikely after UNG had gone 39-of-46 at the line as a team just 24 hours prior.
Yet, the Cougars got exactly that.
The first shot of Champion's one-and-one free throw caromed off the heel of the rim and toward the middle of the paint. Bodies lunged at the ball, vying for possession. In the midst of chaos, a Nighthawk tipped it out to the perimeter where sophomore guard AJ White was waiting in prime position.
White snatched the ball and absorbed the contact of another intentional foul. With 13 ticks to go, UNG's leading scorer on the season had a chance to ice the game. White calmly made both free throws and secured the Nighthawk's first ever PBC Tournament Semifinal win.
UNG now gets a day to rest before taking part in the PBC Tournament Championship. The Nighthawks will face the 4-seed in Flagler after the Saints took down 5-seed Augusta and 8-seed Georgia College to advance to the finals.
UNG went 2-0 against Flagler in the regular season, eeking out a 71-70 win on the road but firmaly handling business 76-65 a month later at home.
The Championship bout will tip off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 9 from host site USC Aiken.
