DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Travis McKinney rushed for three touchdowns and his cousin Cory caught 10 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns as the Daytona Beach Thunder defeated the Augusta Spartans 54-51 in a World Indoor Football League before 2,037 at DBCC Public Broadcasting 15 at the Ocean Center Saturday night.

The Thunder (2-6) snapped its three-game losing streak as well as a two-game Spartan (4-4) winning run in the highest-scoring game in the league this season. Augusta’s 51 points were also the most scored by a losing team this year.

Augusta fell behind 40-24 when Thunder defensive back Nick Allison returned an interception 47 yards with 7:13 remaining in the third quarter, but ran off 19 unanswered points to a 45-40 lead on Aldoph Brown’s 27-yard fumble recovery with 11:19 remaining.

Daytona Beach regained the lead on Bo Bartik’s 10-yarder to Tavares Woodley with 8:05 left and upped its advantage to 54-45 on Travis McKinney’s 1-yard run with 1:49 left.

The Spartans closed to 54-51 on Mike’s Rathe’s 8-yarder to Michael Flint with 44 seconds left. Augusta had a chance to either tie or take the lead after a Daytona Beach three-out, but former Stetson basketball star EJ Gordon registered the game-saving interception.

Bartik finished 16 of 31 for 242 yards and three touchdowns, and also saw time at receiver (one catch for 15 yards) and earned the game’s Special Teams MVP by converting 6 of 8 PAT attempts.

Travis McKinney, the game offensive MVP had 30 yards rushing, while Tarell Moree had four catches for 54 yards and one touchdown. Allison was named defensive MVP and Robert Simpson lineman.

Rathe finished 20 of 33 for 204 yards and five touchdowns, with league-leading receiving Marvin Stone posting a season-high catches for 137 yards and three touchdowns. Michael Flint had 67 yards and two touchdowns on five catches. Kicker Shon Rowser registered his sixth “UNO” of the season and scored nine points. Willie Butler added a rushing touchdown for the Spartans, who did take an early 9-0 lead.