DAHLONEGA, Ga.---The North Georgia men's basketball team made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 24 seconds as the Saints defeated Lander, 64-61, Monday night in a Peach Belt Conference game.

North Georgia improves to 12-7 overall and 7-5 in the PBC, while Lander slips to 8-11, 5-7.

Zach Evans led Lander with 13 points, while Dane Sparrow and Scottie Smith added 11 each. Brenton Harris grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and Smith had eight.

Lander connected on 20-of-62 field goals for 32.3 percent, 8-of-27 three pointers for 29.6 percent and 13-of-21 free throws for 61.9 percent.

North Georgia's Nick Pope scored a game-high 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Andre Morgan scored 11 points.

The Saints, who led 38-25 at halftime, made 22-of-46 field goals for 47.8 percent, 5-of-15 three pointers for 33.3 percent and 15-of-25 foul shots for 60 percent.

NGCSU jumped out to a 13-2 lead at the 12:51 in the first half until Lander scored its second basket of the game on a layup by Darius Johnson at 12:17. The Saints built a 21-point lead with 4:33 left in the first half when Andrew Bennett's dunk gave NGCSU a 30-9 lead. Lander only connected on 8-of-33 shots for 24.2 percent in the first half.

The Bearcats clawed their way back into contention in the second half behind 41 percent shooting and trimmed the Saints' lead to 46-42 with 10:46 remaining on a three-point shot by Travis Allison. Two minutes later Justin Mann drained a three-pointer to pull within one point, 48-47. The Bearcats only trailed 59-58 with 24 seconds remaining when they were forced to foul the Saints.

Lander outrebounded NGCSU, 38-36.