No. 13 Falcons Hold Off Saints, 72-66

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - The No. 13 University of Montevallo men's basketball team (13-1, 3-1) returned to its winning ways with a hard-fought 72-66 victory on the road at Flagler College (6-6, 2-2 PBC). The Falcons were once again led by the power duo of Cecil Coleman (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Bay Tech) and Gerald January (Macon, Ga./Westside) who for the second game in a row posted a pair of double-doubles. Coleman had 15 points and 10 rebounds while January had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Coleman hit 6-of-7 shots from the floor while January connected on 4-of-7.

The Falcons welcomed back leading scorer Freddy Little (Raleigh, N.C./Bunn) who had 14 points in just 20 minutes of action. Also returning was senior point guard MarkPlaza (San Diego, Calif./Chula Vista) who dished out five assists in 20 minutes of play.

Junior Tauras Dortch (Ensley, Ala./Ramsay) scored 11 points to finish in double-figures while point guard Demarcus Richard (Portland, Ore./Jefferson) had a season-high 11 assists.

The Falcons never trailed in the game despite the close score. UM used a 19-9 run early in the first half to open up a 23-11 lead with 12:21 to go in the half. Little scored seven points for Montevallo in the run, including the last five.

Flagler would answer with its own 23-13 run over the next 8:09 to cut the Montevallo lead down to 36-34 with 3:51 left. The Falcons closed out the half with a 6-1 run to enter the locker room with a 42-35 lead.

The Saints quickly cut down the Falcons lead to open up the second half as they went on a 10-2 run. UM continued to fight to maintain control of the game as they never relinquished the advantage always staying at least one point ahead of the Saints. UM's largest lead of the second half came at the 5:50 mark when they led 64-56.

The No. 13 Falcons will return to action Monday, Jan. 18 at 6:30 p.m. as they travel to Armstrong Atlantic State University for another tough Peach Belt Conference contest. AASU is 5-9 on the season and 0-5 in PBC play.