YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. | Carl Cleveland and Cole Deptula combined for 40 points and 13 rebounds as Young Harris College defeated Georgia College & State University 75-61 in a non-conference men's basketball game Saturday (Dec. 30) afternoon at the Harp Recreation and Commencement Center.

The Mountain Lions, who were members of the Peach Belt Conference until last summer,  improved to 7-5, while the Bobcats fell to 7-3. Georgia College wraps up its season-opening 11-game road trip Wednesday (Jan. 3) evening when they open up PBC play in Columbus, Georgia, with a 7:30 p.m. contest against Columbus State University.

GCSU opened up an early four-point lead (7-3) after an old-fashioned three-point play from Brendan Rigsbee with 17:19 remaining. The Bobcats reclaimed the lead for the final time at 14-12 after Oscar Lynch sank a three-pointer with 12:42 left. The Mountain Lions reeled off the next 10 points as they opened up an eight-point lead (22-14) after a Cleveland jumper midway through the first half. YHC pushed its advantage into double digits (31-20) after long-distance shot four minutes later from Cleveland.

Georgia College used a 10-2 run of its own as they trimmed the deficit down to four points (34-30) after a Richard Crawford III jumper with 4:18 left before halftime. The Mountain Lions scored the final five points of the half to take a 42-34 lead at the break.

YHC expanded its lead to 16 points (54-38) after a four-point play from Eden Davis with 12:01 remaining in the game that culminated a 12-4 run to start the second half. The Mountain Lions took their largest lead - 17 points (64-47) - after Deptula free throw with 6:19 to play. The closest the Bobcats would get the rest of the way was 10 points (64-54) after Ian Davis sank a three-pointer with 4:12 left. 

Davis led the Bobcats with 18 points - one off his career high - and grabbed eight rebounds. Rigsbee (11 points) and Brady Spence (10 points) also finished in double figures for GCSU. Rigsbee also pulled down six rebounds, while Spence added five more.

About GCSU Athletics 
Owning the top Academic Success Rate among all public colleges and universities in Division II for three consecutive academic years, the Georgia College Department of Athletics sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. GCSU Athletics has won four consecutive Presidents' Awards for Academic Excellence, and are two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup and three-time winners of the PBC Institution of the Year Sportsmanship Award. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' continued appearances in postseason competition as well as high-level academic success and community-service involvement. Bobcat Athletics embodies the mantra of "Graduating Champions for Life." Sign up at @GCSUBobcats on all social media outlets for up-to-the-minute reports or subscribe to the GSCU Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with GCSU Athletics.

  Read Full Article