YOUNG HARRIS, Georgia - With a long road trip down to Georgia behind them, the Salem men's basketball team had their work cut out for them as they faced off with the Young Harris College Mountain Lions. However, Salem was up for the challenge, and battled with their opponents for every point of a double overtime thriller. Unfortunately, Salem found themselves on the wrong side of a tough 113-110 loss for the Tigers. 

In the first half, the tone of the contest was set from the opening tip. Both teams traded scoring runs early on, but neither team could muster much more and a 5 point lead at any one time. Salem got strong play from Rodney Smith all night. He ran the Salem offense effectively from his point guard position, and kept the Tigers in the game by finding his teammates in key scoring positions. Salem also got strong play in the first half from Justin Tene and Riley Heatherington, who were able to use the Salem size advantage to great benefit for interior scoring and rebounding. However, even with some good play in the first half, Salem trailed Young Harris 43-41 going into the locker rooms for halftime. 

In the second half, Salem found its scoring punch with Stan Smith getting hot from the field. That run was enough to reclaim the lead and push the advantage for the Tiger's to as much as 13. However, the Mountain Lions mounted a furious comeback, and sank a layup with just seconds to go to push the game into the first overtime at 90-90. 

In the first overtime, Salem found themselves behind early on, but began their run as Young Harris had multiple key players foul out in the period. A Rodney Smith heavily contested three off of an Ian Hardy assist knotted the game back up at 99-99 in the closing seconds, and we had yet another overtime period on the docket down south. 

In the final period, Salem took early control with another Rodney Smith three pointer. However, Rodney Smith would foul out of the game shortly thereafter, and Young Harris took control of the game back. Yet, with the game on the line, a bad Mountain Lion foul put Stan Smith on the line with just seconds left to go for three free throws. He sank all three, and knotted the game up yet again at 110-110. However, Salem hearts were crushed with 1 second left to go when a desperation Mountain Lion three pointer found the bottom of the net to make it 113-110. With just a second to go, Salem got the ball back and a desperation full court heave fell short. Therefore, Salem went away with a heartbreaking 113-110 loss in double overtime. 

Despite the tough result, the scorebook shows just how well the Tigers played in this game. 5 Tigers scored in double figures, and they were led by Rodney Smith with an impressive 33 points. Stan Smith was just behind him with 26 points. Justin Tene dropped 17 points, and Riley Heatherington added 14 points as well. Rounding out the Tiger's in double figures was Ian Hardy who added 13 points off the bench for Salem. 

While this tough loss will leave the Tiger's with a bitter taste for their ride back to West Virginia, they will have a chance to get back on track this weekend. They are set to take on USCAA opponent Bryant & Stratton - Buffalo on Saturday, February 18th at 4 PM at T. Edward Davis Gymnasium.