LOUISBURG -- It's all about survival this time of year, and that's exactly what the Louisburg College Hurricanes accomplished Monday in the opening round of the Region X Men's Basketball Tournament.

Playing at home, the Hurricanes held off a late threat from Patrick Henry CC and were able to advance with a 71-67 triumph at Taylor Center on the LC campus.

Louisburg College, with a 15-15 overall record, moved into a region quarterfinal matchup Thursday at 2 p.m. against top-seeded Pitt Community College at the Wake Tech CC Gymnasium in Southern Wake County.

That contest was set up by LC's hard-fought victory Monday against Patrick Henry -- a squad the Hurricanes had split with during the regular season.

The Hurricanes never trailed after the midpoint of the first half and seemed to be in charge with a 5238 cushion early in the second half after Todd Smith drained a trifecta.

Patrick Henry, however, managed to stay within striking distance, and the Patriots eventually clawed back to tie the score off a layup with 48 ticks remaining.

But LC's Jordan Beale countered with a clutch trey 5 seconds later. PHCC converted one of two free throws at the 14-second mark, and Louisburg followed by missing the front-end of a one-and-one situation.

Following a time-out, the Patriots worked for a shot attempt to either tie or move ahead, but the ball eventually went out-of-bounds off Beale's hand with just three seconds remaining.

Patrick Henry tried another inbounds play, but an offensive foul gave possession back to the Hurricanes, and Weston McKenney sealed the victory for LC by nailing two free throws following a successful inbounds pass.

Four Hurricanes reached double figures in scoring, led by Smith with 17 and Beale with 15.

Louisburg went 0-2 against quarterfinal opponent Pitt CC in the regular season.