No. 13 Falcons Drop Heartbreaker at Home, 68-67

MONTEVALLO, Ala. - The No. 13 University of Montevallo men's basketball team (12-1, 2-1) suffered its first loss of the season as two starters sat out due to injury. The Falcons fell to visiting North Georgia College and State University (7-6, 2-1 PBC) 68-67 to end their 12-game winning streak. UM had a pair of double-doubles from senior Gerald January (Macon, Ga./Westside) and junior Cecil Coleman (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Bay Tech) in the loss. January had 20 points and 11 rebounds while Coleman chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Junior Tauras Dortch (Ensley, Ala./Ramsay) had 16 points and three assists while redshirt-freshman Jonas Brown (Tifton, Ga./Tift County) had nine points off of three three-pointers.

The Falcons were without their leading scorer Freddy Little (Raleigh, N.C./Bunn) and senior point guard Mark Plaza (San Diego, Calif./Chula Vista) who ranks in the top 15 in the NCAA in assists per game.

UM never led in the game as the Saints jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back. The Saints to the early advantage as they led 15-7 just seven minutes into the game. They were able to increase that lead 10 with just five minutes left in the half and finally closed out the first period with their largest lead of the first half 43-30.

The Saints quickly increased their lead to 15 with an opening dunk in the second half before the Falcons began their comeback. UM used a 9-2 run midway through the second half to cut the Saints lead to just four at 60-56 powered by seven points from Dortch. The Saints were able to increase their lead to nine with 4:01 to play and that is when the Falcons made their final push.

The Falcons clawed their way to within five points at 65-60 with less than three minutes to play as Dortch drained two more free throws, but North Georgia's Carl Taylor pulled down an offensive rebound with 1:34 remaining and was fouled on the put back. He hit one of the ensuing foul shots, sending the Saints back up by six.

Montevallo would push the ball up the floor and Brown hit a huge three-pointer with 1:17 left on the clock, making it a 66-63 North Georgia advantage before the Saints called a timeout with 60 ticks remaining. After running the shot clock down, Michael Moynihan was stripped driving to the basket, but a foul was called and the senior guard converted one of two free throws.

The Falcons then inched even closer as Cecil Coleman grabbed an offensive board and hit a put back to make it a two-point game at 67-65 with 32 seconds remaining. Montevallo fouled Pat Moynihan and the freshman hit the front end of a one-in-one, but missed the second, giving the home team a chance, down three points with 16.6 seconds remaining on the clock.

In the final possession of the game, the Falcons tried to run a play but the defense of North Georgia forced Dortch to create something for himself. An off-balance three-pointer missed the mark and was put back by Coleman to end the game 68-67.

The No. 13 Falcons will return to action Saturday, Jan. 16 at 2:30 p.m. as they travel to Flagler College for another tough Peach Belt Conference contest. Flagler is 6-5 on the season and 2-1 in PBC play.