ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA -- The Flagler College Saints won their first-ever PBC Tournament Championship on Sunday as they defeated Georgia Southwestern State University 73-60 at Flagler Gymnasium. With the win, the Saints improve to 15-2 on the season and earn the PBC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Georgia Southwestern, who were making their first appearance in the PBC final, fall to 13-5 but are expected to earn an at-large berth to the NCAAs.
Jaizec Lottie was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring a game-high 31 points, his sixth game this season of 30 or more points. The PBC Player of the Year hit 11 of 18 shots from the field and added a team-high eight rebounds and four assists. Derrick Ellis, Jr., added 18 for the Saints while Chris Metzger scored 12 with seven rebounds.
GSW was led by 17 points from Baris Ulker, who came off the bench to hit six of nine shots and grab give rebounds. The 'Canes also got 14 points from Dontevius Tatum and 13 points from Jarrett Adderson. Devon Higgs led all players with nine rebounds.
Flagler jumped out to an early lead, holding GSW to just four points over the first 8:51 of the game and building an 11-point lead. That lead was still 11 with 9:17 to go in the first when the Hurricanes mounted a 11-0 run that tied the game with 6:30 in the first. Ulker started the streak with a pull-up jumper and Kahlon Whitley finished it with a fast-break layup.
The score was tied at 22 when Lottie hit back-to-back shots and Saints led by six at the break 32-26.
That momentum carried into the second half as Lottie opened with a three-pointer, followed by a Jalen Barr layup for an 11-point Saints margin. That lead would float between nine and 13 for the next eight minutes before GSW scored six straight to cut the lead to five with 10:24 to play. Flagler surged back up by as many as 11, but GSW responded again, cutting the lead to five again with 4:27 to play folloiwng a pair of Ulker free throws. But that would be as close as GSW would get as Flagler scored eight straight points, capped by a Barr layup, to build an insurmountable 13-point lead.
Flagler shot 46% for the game and scored 21 points off of 18 GSW turnovers. The 'Canes shot 41%, 50% in the first half, but struggled from long range with only two three-pointers in 14 attempts.
The NCAA Mens' Basketball Tournament Selection show will stream live at 10:30 pm easter on NCAA.com.
2021 PBC Men's Basketball
All-Tournament Team
Devon Higgs, GSW
Jarrett Adderton, GSW
Dontevius Tatum, GSW
Derrick Ellis, Jr., Flagler
Jalen Barr, Flagler
Most Valuable Player
Jaizec Lottie, Flagler