It was a scoring run stare down Saturday afternoon, and Georgia Highlands blinked first.
South Georgia State went on a 22-9 run midway through the second half and held on to defeat the Georgia Highlands Chargers 88-73.
It was SGSC’s first win over Georgia Highlands since the 2014-2015 regular season and snapped the Chargers’s current three-game winning streak.
The Hawks (13-5, 2-2) jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first 3:15, only to watch the Chargers cut the lead to 19-18 midway through the first half. The Hawks would pull away again with a 17-3 run to lead 36-21 with 3:13 left. The Chargers scored the final nine points of the first half to trail 36-30 heading into the locker room.
SGSC stretched its lead back to 12 points (48-36) in the first four minutes of the second half, but Georgia Highlands answered with a 12-3 run of its own to trail 51-48 with 12:10 left to play. The Hawks then put together their final run to extend their lead to 16 points.
Five players scored in double figures for the Hawks, led by Tracy Hector’s complete game of 18 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, and two steals. Keyshaun Street and Nate Louis each had 17 points, followed by Jacob Spence with 13 points and nine rebounds. Dwayne Wilson rounded out the top scorers with 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
“Nate (Louis) handled their pressure really well,” said head coach Cory Baldwin. “He took control of the ball a lot for us. Jacob (Spence) was huge for us, too. He grabbed some big rebounds and took some charges at key points in the game.”
The Hawks will travel to Atlanta Metro Wednesday night and return home next Saturday to face South Georgia Tech. Tip for the South Georgia Tech game is set for 4 p.m.
General admission to all regular season home games is five dollars with children five and under admitted free.