CENTRAL—The Daniel High basketball team survived a late fourth quarter push by AC Flora to move on in the Upper State playoffs.

With the win, Daniel moves on to face Eastside on Saturday in the Semi-finals at the Bi-Lo Center.

The Lions improve to an impressive 21-6 on the year, with their most important victory coming in a 54-50 win over Flora.

After jumping out to an early 8-point lead, the Lions let that advantage dwindle and went into the second quarter only up three.

Daniel’s offense caught fire in the second, building an 11-point lead that established a crucial 31-22 advantage at the break.

Flora would not go away quietly, however. The Falcons stormed back to even the score in the third, pulling ahead by 3 in the fourth.

With just seconds remaining in the game, D.J. Greenlee hit several critical free throws to give Daniel the advantage it needed to close out its third round game.

Although Greenlee hit the clutch buckets, Justin Dotson and Tyus Gaines led the way for the Lions. The two standouts scored 16 of their own in the contest, providing Daniel with a huge spark in the first half to secure an early lead.

Matthew Howard provided the offense for Flora with 16 points of his own in the contest. James Murray Boyles added 14 for the Falcons.

The win pits Daniel up against a talented Eastside team in the semi-finals. With a win over the Eagles, Daniel would move on to the state title game in Columbia on March 2.

Tip-off against Eastside is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Bi-Lo Center.