ROME, Ga. – Freshman Damerit Brown fell a single point shy of tying his career-high of 20 points, as he helped the Shorter Hawks defeat GSC rival Lee, 79-69, in front of the home crowd.

Brown scored 19 points in 29 minutes of action, while Phil Taylor led the Hawks with a game-high 26 points. Eric Ross recorded a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Shorter (12-8., 6-8 Gulf South Conference) took its first double-digit led less than seven minutes into the game, when Amonte Potter tipped in Taylor's miss.

The Hawks largest lead of the half came with seven minutes left until halftime when Brown converted an old-fashioned three-point play, putting Shorter up 15, 30-15.

The Flames (9-11, 5-9 GSC) sliced 11 points off Shorter's lead and trailed by only four at the half. Ryan Montgomery answered Taylor's field goal with a pair of free throws, and at the half, the scoreboard read 36-32, in favor of Shorter.

The Hawks failed to pull away from Lee until late in the final period. Brown's three-pointer just two minutes into the second half gave SU an eight-point lead, but the Flames pulled with two, just minutes later.

Lee got as close as one point with 6:46 remaining and trailed by two with just over three minutes left, before Taylor and Potter led Shorter on a 5-0 run, putting the home team up seven.

The Hawks converted nine free throws in the final 60 seconds, keeping the lead away from Lee and taking the victory, 79-69.

Shorter outshot the Flames 45.5% to 36.4%, but the real difference came in the first half, when the Hawks allowed Lee to connect on only six field goal attempts.

The Flames went 33 of 39 from the charity stripe, while Shorter made 20 of 25 attempts. The Hawks outrebounded Lee, 34-30.

Shorter will take the court again on Thursday evening against Alabama Huntsville. Tipoff between the Hawks and Chargers is set for 8 p.m. from Rome, Georgia.