Moultrie Leads No. 25 Pirates To 68-63 Comeback Win Over Bobcats

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Senior Brian Moultrie scored eight straight points in a two-minute stretch, helping the No. 25 Armstrong Atlantic State men's basketball team erase a 12-point second-half deficit and come away with a 68-63 Peach Belt Conference victory over GCSU on Wednesday evening at Alumni Arena.

The Pirates (11-2, 4-2 PBC) won its first game as a nationally-ranked squad while handing GCSU (9-2, 3-2 PBC) just its second loss in its last seven games.

AASU trailed by nine at halftime, 33-24, and by 12 moments into the second half before the Pirates started its comeback. Keron McKenzie's four-point play with 15:37 left helped AASU chip away at the deficit, then the Pirates tied it up on two free throws from Moultrie with 2:47 remaining, making the score 61-61. Moultrie converted on a layup with 2:07 left, giving AASU its first lead of the game since the first minute of the contest, then two more free throws from the Beaufort native made the lead 65-61 at the 1:16 mark.

GCSU's Graham Martin nailed a pull-up jumper with 51 seconds left to pull back within two, 65-63, but Moultrie converted on another layup to put the Pirates up by four, 67-63, with just under 20 seconds remaining. The Bobcats' Ty Rowland missed a three-point attempt with four seconds left to seal the victory for AASU.

Moultrie finished the night with 15 points - 13 of those coming in the second half - to go with eight rebounds. Calvin Wilson led the Pirates with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Dwight Tolbert added 13 points and T.T. Hall chipped in 10. 

Martin led all scorers for the Bobcats with 17 points. Shaun Keaton collected 16 points and Rowland added 10 points.

The Pirates return to action on Monday, January 19, with a 7:30 p.m. Peach Belt contest against North Georgia at Alumni Arena.