SCORE

Montevallo 86, Auburn-Montgomery 74

RECORDS

Montevallo (8-1)

Auburn-Montgomery (4-12)

LOCATION

AUM Gymnasium (Montgomery, Alabama)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Montevallo ran away from Auburn-Montgomery in the second half on its way to a 86-74 win over the Warhawks in its final non-conference contest of the season.

A layup by Romoane Eager with 10:59 remaining in the opening half gave Auburn-Montgomery a 26-20 advantage, which marked the Wahawks' largest lead in the first 20 minutes.

The Falcons responded with a 19-4 run over the next six minutes and a dunk by junior Jamaar Taylor gave Montevallo a 39-30 lead, its largest in the opening half. The Warhawks closed the half with a 12-3 run, capped with a free throw by Darrion Taylor with 27 seconds remaining, to tie the game at 42-42 heading into the locker room at halftime.

A fastbreak layup by senior Kevin Kelly capped a 11-2 run to open the second half by the Falcons and gave Montevallo a 53-44 lead with 16:57 remaining in the game. A pair of free throws by sophomore Tony Bagtas with 13:02 left in the contest gave the Falcons a 60-50 advantage, which marked the first double-digit lead in the game for Montevallo.

Auburn-Montgomery managed to trim the deficit to 66-62 on a 3-pointer by Julius McCoy with 8:10 remaining in the game before the Falcons quickly pushed the lead back to double digits and coasted to the victory down the stretch.

STAT OF THE GAME

Sophomore Tony Bagtas scored a career-high 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe. The Falcons' point guard from Atlanta, Georgia also grabbed five rebounds and dished out a team-high four assists.

UP NEXT

The Falcons will return to Peach Belt Conference play Thursday, Jan. 5 with a road contest against Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. Eastern/6:30 p.m. Central.