MORROW, Ga. – Redshirt-sophomore Bryan Hart (Hampton, Va.) put up a career-high 26 points as Clayton State (3-17, 1-12 PBC) dropped a 90-70 decision to Young Harris (6-15, 4-9 PBC) in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Wednesday, February 5.
 
Hart led the way for the Lakers with a game-high 26 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and went an impressive 10-of-12 at the foul line in 36 minutes. He also added seven boards and four assists.
 
Joining him was sophomore forward Ricardo Saams, Jr. (Miramar, Fla.) with nine points and six rebounds and redshirt-junior center Tionne Williams, Jr. (Phenix City, Ala.) with six points, four caroms and three monster blocks. Junior guard Byron Abrams (Conyers, Ga.) and senior guard Kyle Kincey (Tallahassee, Fla.) rounded things out with 12 and eight points, respectively.
 
The Mountain Lions would come out of the gate on fire as they raced out to a 16-9 advantage by the 12:27 mark before Clayton State cut the deficit to 18-15 a minute and a half later. Five different scorers would then fuel a 10-2 burst that drove the lead up to 28-17 with 7:26 showing on the clock. From there the teams would be nearly evenly matched the rest of the half as YHC scored 12 of the final 20 points to take a 40-25 lead into the break.
 
That lead would stretch to 46-29 in the opening 1:20 of the second half before the Lakers bounced back with a 7-0 run behind five points from Hart to close the gap to 46-36 by the 17:47 mark. Trailing by 13 following a triple by Young Harris' Nate Louis, Clayton State responded with an 8-2 stretch to move to within 51-44 with just over 13 minutes to play.
 
Following a Brian Harper trey to extend back to double-digits, Abrams nailed back-to-back threes with Hart following with one of his own to power a 9-2 outburst that drew the Lakers to within 56-53 by the 11:37 mark. That, however, would be as close as they would get as the Mountain Lions steadily rebuilt their lead over the rest of the half.
 
That margin would eventually grow to 79-60 behind a 23-7 run that saw Ryle Owens deliver eight points and Brandon Beloti six as YHC put the game out of reach with just under four to play. From there they would go on to close out the 90-70 victory.
 
Harper led the Mountain Lions with 19 points, six assists and five rebounds while Owens matched his point total and added eight boards in just 22 minutes. Brian Free added 10 points, four assists and a pair of steals and Jonathan King had 14 points. Kristian Collins contributed eight points, seven caroms and two steals and Beloti chipped in with eight points and four rebounds. Louis closed out the top performers with nine points on the night.
 
The Lakers head to Milledgeville, Georgia for a solitary road contest as they take on Georgia College this weekend. That game is set for approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 8.
 
FULL GAME VIDEO