The University of North Georgia men’s basketball program picked up its second win of the season against the number one team in the nation and defending national champion Minnesota State on Sunday night. The Nighthawks defeated the Mavericks 57-49.
UNG was in control from the get-go, leading for a whopping 36 minutes and 31 seconds. The Mavericks led for less than 90 seconds in the contest.
In the first half, seven different Nighthawks were able to score points, with junior guard AJ White leading the charge with six points.
Both teams struggled with trying to make big plays in the first half. Notably, UNG was 0-9 behind the arc in the first half.
“Both teams are playing possessions a little bit longer and we got to make shots, make good opportunities. Share the ball, in good situations. And just try to make the right play,” said UNG Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dan Evans at halftime.
Adjustments they made at halftime seemed to work.
The Nighthawks went on a 9-2 run to start the second half of play and would outscore the defending National Champions 34-29 in the second period.
White more than doubled his first half points with 16 in the second, totaling 22 points for the night.
“We came in hungry as a team they [Minnesota State] were number one ranked team. We knew what they wanted to do, we watched them last night so we knew what they was going to do. We held the number one team to 49 points. You can’t really teach that. So that’s what we put our main focus on was defense this game,” said AJ White after the game.
Junior guard Cayden Charles was another Nighthawk to have a great night against the defending National Champions. Charles finished the night with 10 points, seven rebounds and a team-leading two blocks.
“It was just all about us. That’s kind of what we were talking about going into this tournament and, it’s just the little things, it’s stuff that we worked on all throughout the fall. We had a bunch of turnovers but our resiliency being able to play back to back and just sticking with each other when times are rough.” – Cayden Charles, UNG junior guard
This was the first time the Nighthawks have participated in the Small College Basketball Classic which is held annually in Lakeland, FL. They beat St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday in the season opener and the first game of the Classic.
Charles and White were both selected to the all-tournament team.
North Georgia will be hosting Blue Crew on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. in the Convocation Center to help support and kickoff the Nighthawk Basketball season.
The men’s basketball team plays their next game on Friday Nov. 8 at 5:30 p.m. in Gaffney, South Carolina against Limestone in the Southeast Region Crossover.
