AMERICUS, Ga. – The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's basketball team used second-half dominance for a 72-67 road win at Georgia Southwestern (GSW) Monday night.

The Nighthawks have now won back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 4 and Jan. 8. 

The team appears to be turning a corner at the right time as postseason play is right around the corner with four games remaining in the regular season. The win puts UNG (15-11, 7-7 Peach Belt) in a tie for sixth place with Flagler in the PBC standings.

The Nighthawks benefited from a number of clutch performances in Monday's comeback win on the road.

For the second consecutive game, junior guard AJ White dropped 23 points. The Memphis, Tenn. native went 9-for-14 from the floor and 3-of-6 from three-point range. White is shooting 51.7 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from downtown in the last two games.

Freshman forward Zack Hawkinson dropped 21 points to record the third 20-point performance of his career. Hawkinson too has posted two straight phenomenal performances as he put up 18 points with six rebounds on Saturday against USC Beaufort.

Hawkinson is averaging 19.5 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting a startling 73.7 percent from the floor. He's also gone 11-for-13 (84.6 percent) at the free throw line, much of which has been in crunch time.

Junior guard Cayden Charles fell one rebound shy of a second-consecutive double-double as the Kennesaw, Ga. native dropped 15 points with a team-high nine collections on Monday. Charles came up big defensively as well with a block and two steals against the Hurricanes.

Junior center Colin Turner also reached double-digits with 10 points and four boards as he went 4-for-8 from the floor.

In a difficult road environment it was not a surprise when the Nighthawks fell behind in the first half as the Hurricanes rode momentum from the crowd to a 10-point first half lead at the 1:40 mark.

UNG chipped back before the break to cut the deficit in half and trail 34-29 at halftime as Hawkinson put in a last-second layup. 

GSW still held its distance from the Nighthawks as the second half got underway. The Hurricanes led 43-35 with 17:19 to play before UNG began to rally at both ends of the floor.

From the 17:19 mark until the conclusion of the game, the Nighthawk defense forced seven of GSW's 12 turnovers in the contest. UNG also out-scored the Hurricanes 41-24 in the final 17 minutes of the contest.

A 13-0 run with 10:44 helped the Nighthawks overcome a seven-point deficit and transform it into a six-point lead as White capped the run off with a clutch triple.

UNG would not relinquish the lead as it went 4-for-6 from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line in crunch time. The Nighthawks out-scored GSW 47-33 in total in the second half.

Now, in a rare occurrence, the Nighthawks will prepare to turn around and face the Hurricanes again in less than 48 hours as Monday's matchup was rescheduled from a postponed contest earlier in the season.

The rematch on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Lynn Cottrell Arena at the UNG Convocation Center tips off at 7:30 p.m.