DAHLONEGA - The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's basketball team used a dominant second half to win its second-straight game over USC Aiken (USCA) 78-64 on Wednesday night in Peach Belt Conference acdtion inside Lynn Cottrell Arena at the UNG Convocation Center.
The Nighthawks were held in check offensively to open the game, scoring just three points through the first four minutes. Out of the first media timeout, UNG had an answer in the form of Jamari Arnold.
The sophomore guard knocked down back-to-back-to-back threes to give the Nighthawks a big spark off the bench. Arnold, who had not hit three threes in a game this season, knocked down a trio of them in just 96 seconds to give North Georgia its first lead of the game.
USCA recaptured the lead until a dunk by Colin Turner tied the game up at 26 with 6:36 remaining in the first half. The Pacers again took the lead, but back-to-back blocks from Turner and JoJo Peterson leading to a Jameel Rideout layup brought North Georgia back within three. USCA used balanced scoring from nine different Pacers to head into the locker room with a 35-30 lead.
The Nighthawks came out halftime with a newfound energy. A steal from Zack Hawkinson leading to a fast-break layup from AJ White gave North Georgia the lead and forced the Pacers into a timeout with 16:56 remaining. A putback layup from Turner pushed the Nighthawks' lead to double digits with just over nine minutes left.
UNG kept its foot on the gas with a 7-0 run to go up 67-52 with 6:26 left and forced another USCA timeout. With 2:53 remaining, an alley-oop dunk from Rideout to Turner put the Nighthawks up 20 and sealed the win for North Georgia.
White paced the Nighthawks with 19 points, all of which came in the second half. Turner filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, nine rebounds and a season-high six assists.
With the win, the Nighthawks improve to 13-6 overall and 7-6 in Peach Belt Conference (PBC) play.
The Pacers (10-11 overall, 5-8 PBC) were led by Jonah Lawrence with 18 points.
The Nighthawks will hit the road this weekend for a conference matchup with Lander on Saturday, Feb. 7. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at Finis Horne Arena in Greenwood, S.C.
