BLUFFTON, S.C. – The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's basketball team suffered a close 83-80 loss at USC Beaufort (USCB) Saturday afternoon. The Sand Sharks edged out the close win in a thrilling game that saw 14 ties and 10 lead changes. UNG falls to 12-6 overall and 4-2 in Peach Belt Conference play with the loss. USCB takes the top spot in the league standings at 5-1 tied with Columbus State.

Junior guard Cayden Charles and senior guard Hunter Shedenhelm led UNG in scoring with 15 points each. Charles notched his third consecutive double-double and fifth of the season by adding 12 rebounds for the second straight game. 

Charles is averaging 15.3 points and 10.7 rebounds over the last three games.

Junior guard AJ White added 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting while freshman forward Zack Hawkinson chipped in 12 points and six rebounds. 

The first half was a begrudging battle that saw neither side able to pull away from the other. The Nighthawks and Sand Sharks tied 11 times and changed leads nine times in the first 20 minutes.

White finished the first half with an efficient 6-for-8 mark from the floor for 12 points to lead all scorers. His layup with 16 seconds left gave UNG a 37-35 lead just before the halftime break.

While Charles was limited to zero points in the first half, he helped out in other ways with a team-high nine points and three assists to open the game. 

USCB remained close with the Nighthawks through the first half by hanging onto the ball. The Sand Sharks only committed three turnovers while forcing 11 from UNG. 

In the second half, both teams continued to trade big plays down the stretch. Shedenhelm caught fire to give UNG some momentum in the middle stages of the half. 

In a five minute stretch, the sharpshooting Hunter scored 10 of his 15 points which included three-pointers on back-to-back possession for the Nighthawks. His second three gave UNG a 57-53 lead with 13:14 to play in the game. 

As the game continued towards its completion, the Nighthawk defense ascended to hold their lead down the stretch. UNG held USCB scoreless for 3:24 after a media timeout. When the Sand Sharks finally scored again, the Nighthawks held a 66-61 advantage with 6:36 remaining.

A few seconds later, Charles converted on a basket and got fouled, earning an old fashioned three-point play. He knocked down the free throw and gave UNG a 69-61 lead, its largest of the game. Charles came to life offensively in the second half, scoring all of his 15 points in the game in the final 20 minutes. 

USCB responded with a 7-0 run in a little more than 90 seconds to reclaim a 75-74 lead with 2:33 left to play to take its first lead of the second half, forcing a timeout from head coach Dan Evans. 

In an unfortunate turn of events, during the timeout, the officials reviewed a goal tending call from prior in the half that gave two points to UNG. The officials reversed the call during the break and the Nighthawks exited the timeout trailing 75-72 instead of by one point. 

White was fouled on the ensuing possession and the 91.5 percent free throw shooting calmly converted on both foul shots to get the deficit back to a single point. 

After a split at the free throw line from Sand Shark guard Alejandro Ralat, USCB held a 78-76 lead with under a minute to go. 

The ensuing possession saw Hawkinson convert on a close range layup to tie the game with 46.2 seconds to play. 

A layup on the other end gave the Sand Sharks the lead once more with 31 seconds on the clock. On the next possession, Charles drove to the basket and got fouled with 10.5 seconds left. He made both free throws and tied the contest at 80-80. 

At the other end of the floor, USCB held the ball in an attempt to take the final shot of the game. Sand Shark big man Hudson Norton drove the lane and was fouled with 2.1 seconds remaining. He made both free throws to take the lead once more. 

After already hitting a game-winning buzzer beater on Wednesday against Lander, the Nighthawks needed more late game magic to pull off the win in hostile territory. On the inbound, USCB stole the long pass and was immediately fouled. 

With one made free throw from Norton once more, the Nighthawks still had a chance to tie the game with 1.3 seconds to play. The following inbound was unsuccessful once again as UNG failed to get a potential game tying shot attempt. 

Now the Nighthawks will get ready to head on the road to Georgia Southwestern on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Tip off from Americus, Ga. will take place at 7:30 p.m.