Zane Floyd and Connor Chastain carried #1-ranked Towns County (5-1) to victory in a 47-44 thriller at Tallulah Falls (2-4) on Thursday, surviving a rough third quarter and second half. After holding a 12-point halftime lead, Towns was outscored by Tallulah 14-2 in the third and had to hold off the home Indians at the end.

Towns County held the lead from wire-to-wire, starting with a 3-pointer by Floyd in the first. Zakhar Valasiuk, who finished with a game-high 3 shots from beyond the arc, had TFS right in the thick of it early. However, an 8-3 run for Towns late in the first was capped by a buzzer-beating jumber by Chastain. That had them up 16-10.

In the second, Gage Rogers also connected from deep, Floyd had a pair of 3-point play opportunities, and the Indians held a sizable 31-19 halftime lead. Neyo Bain did his best to keep TFS in it, scoring 9 points in the half. Floyd had 14 in the first half and Chastain had all 11 of his points in the first two quarters.

In the third, Tallulah Falls went on a tear, outscoring Towns 14-2. Valasiuk had another triple and 8 points in the quarter, while Jay Taylor had a clutch bucket as well. TFS trailed just 35-33 going into the final quarter. Neither team got much to go in the final stanza, but Towns took advantage of a double technical and pulled back ahead by 8 points.

Bain hit a late 3-pointer, as did Taylor, and Bain had a steal and layup while Sam Ketch’s late putback made it a 47-44 game. However, Towns County would hang on for the win.

Floyd led all scorers with 22 points, Chastain had 11, Rogers 7, and Tanner Cunningham had 5 for Towns County. For Tallulah Falls, Bain had a team-best 14 points, followed by Valasiuk’s 13 points. Taylor chipped in with 8, Hayden Bootle had 3, and Ketch, Brian Neely, and Stevan Gabric all had 2 points apiece.