GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- North Georgia poured in a game-high 26 points including 21 in the second half to lead the nationally-ranked Nighthawks to an 84-73 win over Tusculum Tuesday night at Pioneer Arena.
UNG (4-0) remains undefeated as the Nighthawks are ranked 10th in the NABC Division II Coaches' Poll and seventh in the Division II College Sports Communicators Media Poll. The Pioneers move to 2-2 on the year after facing a tough early schedule which featured four teams who advanced to last season's NCAA Tournament. Tusculum was coming off an 81-80 win over No. 8/24 UNC Pembroke which propelled the Pioneers to a No. 4 ranking in the D2CSC Southeast Region Media Poll.
Champion came an assist shy of recording a triple-double as he grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out nine assists in the victory. He shot 10-of-17 from the field including a sizzling 8-of-11 in the second half.
North Georgia teammate AJ White added 23 points and four assists, while Eric Jones contributed 11 markers and five boards.
Tusculum junior KJ Crump poured in a career-best 21 points as he went 9-of-15 from the floor including 3-of-5 from three-point territory. Josiah Morris knocked down three 3-pointers for his nine points, while TJ Printup and Akeem Odusipe added eight points apiece in the loss.
North Georgia finished the game shooting 30-of-56 from the field for 53.6 percent including 17-of-27 in the second half for 63 percent. UNG went 4-of-10 from beyond the arch and shot 20-of-27 from the free throw line for 74 percent. The Nighthawks also had 22 assists on its 30 made field goals.
Tusculum went 27-of-63 from the field for 43 percent and 9-of-23 from three-point land for 39 percent. TU also shot 10-of-12 from the free throw line for 80 percent. UNG out-rebounded the Pioneers by a 40-30 margin including 22-11 in the final 20 minutes.
TU jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a jumper by Jacob Hobbs and a triple from Connor Jordan. The Nighthawks answered with 12 unanswered points over a span of three minutes to go up 12-5 with 13:59 left in the first half.
Tusculum trimmed the deficit to one (18-17) on a 12-6 spurt which included eight consecutive points by Printup. UNG edged its way further ahead and led by as many as six points over the next four minutes including 30-24 following a three-pointer by Case Roach.
The Pioneers mounted a 9-0 run which was capped off by an offensive rebound and jumper by Travis Pourciau as TU led 33-30 with 1:52 left in the half.
White scored five straight points including a three-pointer to tie the game and his two free throws for the go-ahead points as the Nighthawks led 35-33 at the intermission.
TU's RayQuan Taylor hit a layup to open the second period and tie the game at 35-35, but UNG would go on an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 43-35 as the run was sparked by back-to-back baskets by White.
Tusculum cut the deficit to one again at 45-44 thanks to a 9-2 spurt which was anchored by four points from Crump and a Josiah Morris triple with 15:01 left in the game.
UNG responded with a second 14-2 run which included two dunks by Champion and another by Colin Turner. Champion added a layup and Sutton Smith hit a pair of free throws as the Hawks led 59-46 with 10:15 on the scoreboard.
The Pioneers went on a 12-4 run over the next 2:07 to trail 63-58 with 8:08 left. The run included four points by Gemari Marshall and a pair of Morris three-pointers.
But that would be as close as the Pioneers would get as UNG went on a 9-0 run and took its largest lead of the game at 72-58 with 4:38 to go and would never lead by fewer than double digits for the rest of the contest.
Tusculum returns to action on Monday when they travel to Banner Elk, North Carolina to take on Lees-McRae for a 7 p.m. contest before opening South Atlantic Conference play on Dec. 2 against Anderson.
