DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia men's and women's basketball teams are ready to start postseason play, beginning with the Peach Belt Tournament this week.
 

PBC Men's Basketball Tournament

#2 North Georgia vs. #7 Georgia Southwestern

When: Wednesday, Mar. 6 – 12 p.m.

Where: USC Aiken – Aiken, S.C.

Tickets: https://peachbeltconference.org/sports/2020/10/14/tickets.aspx

Watch: https://pbcsportsnetwork.com/?B=1006543

The No. 20 Nighthawks men's team earned the 2-seed in the conference tournament after a 22-6 overall record with a 13-5 mark in PBC play. UNG will face 7-seed Georgia Southwestern on Wednesday, Mar. 6 at 12 p.m. at host site USC Aiken. 

The Nighthawks and Hurricanes will kick off the tournament as the first of four games on Wednesday. 

Head coach Dan Evans' team holds a 1-1 record against GSW this season. After taking down the Hurricanes at home 83-77 on Jan. 24, UNG traveled to Americus, Ga. and was upset 80-71 on the road one month later. 

Sophomore guard AJ White dominated the Hurricanes in the first meeting, finishing with 27 points and going 13-for-14 at the free throw line. Fellow sophomore guard Cayden Charles had a big game as well contributing 20 points and three steals. The performance was Charles' third 20-point game this season and marks the last time he reached 20 points in a game. 

GSW's senior guard Jalen Johnson led the way for his team with 21 points and eight assists in the January loss. Johnson would get his revenge in February however. 

In the second meeting of the season, Johnson had 20 points again, this time leading to a victory. He went 6-for-12 from the floor and canned four three-pointers on the way to an 80-71 upset over the then ranked No. 10 Nighthawks.

Charles had another big game against the Hurricanes the second time around. This time he had a double-double with 19 points and tied a career-high with 11 rebounds. It marked the fourth double-double of his career. On the season Charles is averaging 19.5 points, seven rebounds and three steals against GSW. 

Junior forward Frank Champion was held in check in the scoring column both times against the Hurricanes. In the two contests, Champion totaled just 19 points but he did have a season high 13 rebounds in the first meeting. 

UNG will look to lean on its PBC leading rebounding prowess to take down GSW Wednesday. The Nighthawks currently No. 1 in the league and No. 1 in NCAA Division II in defensive rebounds per game at 28.8. In both regular season games, Evans' squad only won the battle on the glass by a single board. 

Meanwhile, the 16-12 (8-10) Hurricanes will focus on forcing turnovers to capitalize on another upset. GSW leads the PBC, forcing 13.6 turnovers per game. The turnover battle played a huge role in the two meetings with UNG earlier this year.

In The Nighthawks' win against the Hurricanes, Evans' squad only coughed up the ball seven times, the second fewest of any game this season. The flip side of that coin reared its ugly head in the loss however as UNG conceded 15 turnovers and gave up 22 points off of them in the nine-point loss.

A win would advance the Nighthawks to the PBC Semifinals against the winner of 3-seed Lander and 6-seed Columbus State. The Bearcats and Cougars square off immediately following UNG's game on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. The to be determined semifinal showdown is set to take place Thursday, Mar. 7 at 5 p.m.

A win would also be the first PBC Tournament career win for Evans who is 0-3 in the tournament so far, now in his fifth season.

PBC Women's Basketball Tournament

#5 North Georgia vs. #4 Lander

When: Thursday, Mar. 7 – 7:30 p.m.

Where: Georgia Southwestern – Americus, Ga.

Tickets: https://peachbeltconference.org/sports/2020/10/14/tickets.aspx

Watch: https://pbcsportsnetwork.com/?B=1006364

The Nighthawk women's basketball team heads into postseason play holding a 17-11 overall record while going 10-8 in the PBC. They'll face 4-seeded Lander who ended the regular season with an 18-10 record and 11-7 mark in conference. The Quarterfinal matchup is the last of the day, tipping off at 7:30 from the Storm Dome at host school Georgia Southwestern.

UNG split its regular season series with the Bearcats, dropping the first meeting 71-48 at Lander and winning the rematch 65-62 at home in overtime. 

Freshman guard Lexi Pierce led the way scoring in both games for the Nighthawks. She had 12 points in the first matchup and a career-high 20 in the second game. 

Lander stifled UNG on offense in January. The Nighthawks only had one other scorer in freshman forward Kendall Emener join Pierce in double figures. Emener also had 12 points as the team went 17-for-43 (39.5 percent) from the floor and 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) from downtown.

It was a much different story in the second game, however, as Pierce and Emener tag teamed for a combined 37 points in the thrilling win. Emener added eight rebounds, sparking the transition offense in which the Nighthawks got 15 fast break points in the game. 

In both games, Lander was led by graduate guard Wykira Johnson-Kelly in both games. Johnson-Kelly is averaging a PBC leading 17.6 points and 2.5 steals while adding 6.7 rebounds this season. She pretty much performed to her standard against UNG.

In the two games combined, Johnson-Kelly averaged 20 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals against head coach Buffie Burson's squad.  

As a team, the Bearcats are the league leader in turnover margin, forcing a PBC best 13.1 turnovers per game and averaging 5.2 fewer turnovers per contest than their opponents. 

Lander forced a whopping 26 turnovers against UNG in its 23-point January win. Despite the loss, the Bearcats still managed to force 18 turnovers in the second game as well.

The Nighthawks will focus on their passing ability and three-point defense in hopes to return to a seventh consecutive PBC Tournament Semifinals. UNG leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.9) and in assists per game (16.9, No. 14 in NCAA Div. II). On defense the Nighthawks have held opponents to a stark 27.1 percent from downtown this season. The Bearcats were able to overcome the UNG perimeter defense, shooting better than 30 percent from deep in both games with a 7-for-16 (43.8 percent) mark in the first meeting.

Under Burson these two schools have a storied postseason history. The two PBC rivals have met six times in the postseason since 2017. They found each other in five straight seasons with four matchups taking place in the PBC Tournament and two in the NCAA Tournament. 

UNG is 4-2 in postseason play against Lander and hasn't lost to the Bearcats in an elimination since 2021.

The winner of this game will face the winner of #1 Georgia Southwestern and #8 Flagler in the Semifinals on Friday, Mar. 8 at 7:30 p.m.