SCORE

Montevallo 73, Lander 69 (OT)

RECORD

Montevallo (9-6 overall, 5-3 in Peach Belt Conference)

Lander (12-5 overall, 6-2 in Peach Belt Conference)

LOCATION

Finis Horne Arena (Greenwood, South Carolina)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Three days after knocking off Peach Belt Conference West Division leader Young Harris, Montevallo defeated East Division leader Lander 73-69 in overtime on the road in Greenwood, South Carolina.

The Falcons raced out to a 7-2 lead, marking their largest lead in the opening half, following a 3-pointer by junior Kevin Kelly from the wing with 16:56 remaining in the half.

Montevallo took a 13-9 lead on a 3-pointer by senior Terrell Lipkins with 12:38 left in the first half. A free throw by senior Tevin Worthy gave the Falcons a 14-11 advantage with 11:46 remaining in the half before Lander closed the half with a 25-13 run.

A jumper by Telvin Gabriel with 10:32 remaining in the half gave the Bearcats their first lead in the contest, 16-14. A 3-pointer by Scott Elder with 4:06 left in the half gave Lander a 31-20 advantage, which marked its largest lead in the first 20 minutes of the game.

Travis Fredimon made a jumper with seven seconds remaining in the first half to send the Bearcats into the locker room with a 36-27 lead at halftime.

The Falcons opened the second half with a 12-5 run, capped with a basket by Worthy off an offensive rebound with 14:02 remaining in the game, to trim the Bearcats' lead to 41-39.

Lander responded with a quick 5-0 run, capped with a 3-pointer by J.R. Washington with 12:15 remaining in the game, to extend its lead to 46-39. The Falcons used a 5-0 run, capped with a jumper by Lipkins, to trim the Beacats' lead to 48-46 with 10:18 left in the contest.

A pair of free throws by Elder with 4:55 remaining in the game pushed the Bearcats' lead to 54-48 before Montevallo went on a 14-8 run in the final five minutes to force the game into overtime. A layup by Orange with eight seconds left tied the contest at 62-62 before Washington misfired on a 3-pointer with one second remaining in regulation.

A jumper by Orange in the paint 18 seconds into the overtime period gave the Falcons a 64-62 advantage, giving Montevallo its first lead since the 11:09 mark in the opening half.

Washington knocked down a pair of free throws with 2:30 remaining in overtime gave the Bearcats a 65-64 lead before a 5-0 run by the Falcons gave Montevallo a 69-65 cushion with just under one minute left in the extra period. Kelly converted a three-point play to give Montevallo the lead and senior Malik Fields made a jumper in the paint to push the Falcons' lead to four points.

The Falcons finished 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the final minute of overtime to secure the 73-69 victory.

STAT OF THE GAME

The Falcons held Lander to a season-low 39 percent (23-of-59) shooting from the floor in Peach Belt Conference play this season.

BEYOND THE NUMBERS

Junior Kevin Kelly grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and dished out a career-best six assists in the victory over the Bearcats.

Senior Bryant Orange tied his career high with nine made field goals as he finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor.

Sophomore Vaughn Autry tied his career high with three assists while playing 24 minutes off the bench.

UP NEXT

The Falcons will be back on the road Monday, Jan. 18 to take on USC Aiken in an afternoon Peach Belt Conference contest on Martin Luther King Day. Tip off is set for 3:30 p.m. Eastern/2:30 p.m. Central.