DAHLONEGA, Ga. - The Union University men's basketball team defeated the University of North Georgia 72-59 Friday night. Union improved to 4-0 on the season, while North Georgia dropped to 2-1 on the season. 

The game started slow with neither team scoring for the first nearly three minutes. Union's Justin Debuck finally broke through with a jumper to give Union a 2-0 lead. The teams went back and forth for a while, until North Georgia pulled ahead by seven points, 21-14. Union then responded with a 9-0 run with a dunk from Tylandrius Parks, and a three pointer each from Tyree Boykin and Mikail Simmons. North Georgia went back up by three, but another Simmons 3-pointer tied the game. Boykin hit two 3-pointers to close out the half, including one with just one second left to give Union a 33-29 lead at the half. 

Union maintained the lead for the remainder of the game, pushing the lead to double figures, 41-31 with 15:04 left. North Georgia got as close as six points twice, but Union kept the lead around 8-12 points for most of the final 15 minutes. Union's largest lead was 14, 58-44, with 8:04 left. Union was 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the final 1:23 of the game to seal the win. 

Union was led by Boykin with 21 points while Hunter Vick added 15 points and a team best five assists. Simmons had his best game as a Bulldog with 10 points. The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field, 41 percent (9-22) from 3-point range, and 71 percent (17-24) from the free throw line. 

North Georgia was led by Frank Champion with 14 points. Kody Shubert added 11 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists. Giancarlo Bastianoni added 10 points. The Nighthawks shot 42 percent from the field, 33 percent (4-12) from long range, and 63 percent (5-8) from the free throw line. 

Up next for Union will be another game at the North Georgia tournament, Saturday, November 20 at 3 p.m. central time versus Georgia Southwestern State. 

-UNION-