MORROW, Ga. – Senior guard Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) capped an impressive career in fine fashion as he became just the eighth player in program history to score 1,000 career points as Clayton State (7-20, 5-15 PBC) fell to North Georgia (14-14, 9-11 PBC) by a 113-104 score in double overtime in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Saturday, February 29.
 
Kincey entered the night with 986 career points over the course of 108 games and four seasons and would earn the right to become the eighth Laker to go for 1,000 career points. He would accomplish the feat on a fast break layup with 15:36 to play in the second half and is the first player since Dantez Bennamon in 2017-18 to reach that plateau. He finishes his career with 1,006 points and sits eighth all-time in program history.
 
On the night he would put up stellar numbers, finishing with 20 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the foul line, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals while redshirt-sophomore Bryan Hart (Hampton, Va.) lit it up for 26 points behind four threes.
 
Sophomore forward Ricardo Saams, Jr. (Miramar, Fla.) was a force to be reckoned with as he dropped 23 points while cleaning the glass for 11 rebounds and redshirt-junior center Tionne Williams, Jr. (Phenix City, Ala.) was right behind him with 18 points and 10 caroms. Junior guard Byron Abrams (Conyers, Ga.) rounded things out with 13 points, seven boards and five assists while playing all 50 minutes.
 
In terms of game play, UNG would waste no time as they scored the first seven points to jump out to a 9-2 lead before Clayton State responded with a 7-2 stretch to pull to within 11-9 by the 16:09 mark. Trailing 15-9 little more than a minute later the Lakers used a 23-9 run behind nine points from Kincey, six from Abrams and five from Hart to take a 32-24 lead with 9:24 left in the half.
 
From there the Nighthawks would steadily battle back, drawing out a 21-8 stretch over the next eight-plus minutes to claw their way to a 45-40 lead. A dunk and a layup by Saams, Jr. would then make it a one point deficit at the half.
 
After seeing North Georgia score five of the first seven points of the second half for a 50-46 advantage, a three by Williams, Jr. sparked a 7-0 outburst that flipped the script and put the Lakers up 53-50 just two minutes in. It wouldn't last long as Carrod Watson drained a three to tie it and ignited a back-and-forth that would see Kincey surpass the 1,000 point barrier on a fast break layup at the 15:36 mark.
 
They would make it a four point margin with a bucket by Williams, Jr. only to see a three by Dean Tyler go through the hoop, followed by a pair of free throws from K.J. Jenkins, to make it 60-59 in favor of UNG with 14:11 showing on the clock. Undaunted, Clayton State answered with a three from Abrams to spark a 9-5 stretch that put them back ahead, this time 68-65.
 
It would continue to be a back-and-forth affair as the Nighthawks responded by retaking the lead, 69-68 at the midway point. That would be the first of four lead changes along with a pair of ties over the next nearly seven minutes as North Georgia took an 82-81 lead.
 
With the score in favor of UNG at 86-83 with 1:12 to play, the Lakers ran their offense to free up a good shot and watched as Hart nailed the game-tying triple with 49 seconds left in regulation, eventually sending the clubs to overtime.
 
That extra session would see Hart and Kincey combine to give Clayton State a six point spread, 94-88, with 3:18 on the clock before North Georgia fought back to within 97-95 with just under two minutes remaining in the frame. A bucket by the Lakers pushed it four once again but a 4-of-4 performance at the line, and tight defense on the other end, pushed the teams to overtime number two, deadlocked at 99-99.
 
It wouldn't stay deadlocked for long. Over the first two and a half minutes the Nighthawks went on an unfettered 13-0 run, fueled by seven points from Ephraim Tshimanga, to put the game well out of reach at 112-99. From there they would go on to close out the 113-104 victory minutes later.
 
Tshimanga anchored North Georgia with 21 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals while Watson finished with 22 points and nine boards. Jenkins put up 15 points of his own and helped fuel the offense with seven assists and three steals and Zezmon Steeple benefited from those efforts, finishing with 20 points. Dean and Josh Cottrell capped the top performances with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
The Lakers close their 30^th season of play with a 7-20 overall mark and 5-15 record in the Peach Belt Conference.
 
FULL GAME VIDEO