Young picks up 200th career win

Published 9:29 pm Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Danny Young, head coach of the No. 18 University of Montevallo men’s basketball team, picked up his 200th career victory with a 74-60 win by the Falcons on the road Jan. 20 at Clayton State University.

Young now has a career record of 200 wins and just 71 losses. He has coached six of his eight teams to 23-plus win seasons and has had only two losing seasons in his eight-year career.

The Falcons (15-1, 5-1 in Peach Belt Conference) were led in the win over Clayton State by senior Freddy Little, who scored 21 points off of seven 3-pointers. He also had five rebounds in the win.

Junior Tauras Dortch chipped in 17 points, four rebounds and three assists, while senior Mark Plaza had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Senior Gerald January was the final player in double-figures with 11 points, five rebounds and four blocks.

The Falcons shot 43.4 percent from the floor and held Clayton State to just 31.9 percent.

The Lakers led most the first half, but were unable to hold back the Falcons late in the period as Montevallo stormed back and took a three-point lead with nine seconds remaining off a Plaza 3-pointer.

The second half began to roll Montevallo’s way from the beginning. The Falcons opened up the half with a 12-0 run, which was fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Little. The Falcons were able to push their lead to 18 points over the next few minutes as they led 50-32 with 13:04 left in the game.

The Lakers then went on an 18-3 run to cut the Falcons lead to just three points with 6:39 left in the game. A lay-up and free throw by Plaza pushed the Falcons’ lead back to six points and Montevallo never looked back as it extended the lead back up to 15 with 2:19 remaining.

The Falcons hit their free throws down the stretch to come away with the 14-point victory.

The No. 18 Falcons will return to action Saturday, Jan. 23 at 3:30 p.m. as they host Georgia College and State University in a Peach Belt Conference contest. The Bobcats are 12-2 overall and 5-0 in Peach Belt Conference action.