Little Lifts Falcons to Overtime Victory, 82-76

AIKEN, S.C. - The University of Montevallo men's basketball team (19-3, 9-3 PBC) remained undefeated on the road with an 82-76 overtime victory over USC Aiken (13-8, 8-6 PBC). Senior Freddy Little (Raleigh, N.C./Bunn) who did not score a basket until 7:47 mark of the second half led the Falcons in scoring with 17 points including six in the overtime period.

Senior Gerald January (Macon, Ga./Westside) collected his seventh double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds and crushed the single-season blocks record at Montevallo since UM joined the NCAA in 1996 as he flew past Darron Robinson (2006-07) with seven blocks on the night. He now has 52 blocks on the season which is seven more than Robinson had during the 2006-07 season. The all-time blocks record at UM is still held by Marshall Barber (1990-91) who had 91 during the 1990-91 season. He also broke the UM NCAA record for most blocked shots in a game. The previous record at UM was held by Earl Ike (1998-00) who blocked six shots against Lincoln Memorial in 2000. The all-time UM record for blocked shots in game is held by Barber who had nine in a game twice during the 1990-91 season.

Junior Cecil Coleman (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Bay Tech) picked up his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 boards.

Junior Demarcus Richard (Portland, Ore./Jefferson) scored a season-high 12 points while hitting 4-of-5 shots from the floor. Senior Tauras Dortch (Ensley, Ala./Ramsay) had 10 points and five rebounds while senior MarkPlaza (San Diego, Calif./Chula Vista) chipped in nine points and a game-high six assists.

The Falcons shot 46.7 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from three-point range. USCA was held to 38.2 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from three-point range. The biggest difference came in overtime. The Falcons shot 100 percent from the floor in OT while USCA shot just 26.7 percent.

Neither team jumped out to an early lead but with 13:30 left in the first half and the Falcons down by two UM went on a 13-0 run to open up an 11-point lead with 11:26 left in the period. The Pacers slowly chipped away at the Falcons lead the rest of the half as they got as close as one point but were unable to retake the lead. UM entered halftime with a 34-30 advantage.

The Falcons opened up the second half with two quick baskets to take a 38-30 lead but that sparked a 25-9 run by the Pacers that lasted over eight minutes and gave USCA a 55-47 lead with just 8:09 remaining. The very next basket after that run was Little's first points of the night as he hit a three pointer to cut the Pacer lead to just five. The Falcons slowly cut into the Pacer lead and were finally able to tie the game at 61 with 2:45 to play.

A three-point play by Rashad Flowers gave the Pacers a 64-61 lead with 2:19 to go but Little was fouled on a three-point attempt on the very next possession and came through knocking down all three free throws. After missed shots by both teams Little hit a clutch two-point basket with nine seconds on the clock to give the Falcons a 66-64 lead.

A Sterling Council shot with less than a second on the clock tied the game and forced the game into overtime.

UM opened the overtime period with a three-pointer from Little and then used a missed shot by USCA to score two more points from January to take a quick 71-66 lead. Both teams were scoreless for the next two minutes as UM turned the ball over and USCA was unable to hit any shots.

A three pointer by Mark Brown cut the Falcon lead to just two with 2:04 remaining but Little answered with a three of his own on the very next possession to retake a five-point lead. After another USCA three-pointer the Falcons got a layup by Coleman that made the score 76-72 with 1:15 to play. The rest of the points were scored at the free throw line as the Pacers began to foul down the stretch. The game ended 82-76.

The Falcons will return to action Saturday, Feb. 13 at 11:00 a.m. as they travel to No. 7 Augusta State to take on the Jaguars on national television. The game will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports. The Jaguars are 21-2 overall and 13-1 in the PBC.