Gaston College ties school record for offensive balance in 40-point victory

Gaston College tied a school record for offensive balance on Saturday afternoon in a 119-79 victory over Double Exposure Hoops at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School.

The Rhinos (5-6) put seven players in double figures for the fifth team in school history and first since November 2021 as Tyheim Love scored 20 points, Jaeshaun Murchison 19, Kush Carter 18, Asil Hoyle 15, Jamal Ukaegbu and Jaylon Craig 13 each and Mason Rivera-Lind 10.

"We have to understand opportunities and take advantage of them," Gaston College interim coach Jermaine Williams said. "We were thankful for the opportunity and thankful for the win. It's always good to win."

The Rhinos had dropped two straight before rolling to victory in their final win of the first semester; Gaston College closes out the first semester of the 2023-24 season next Sunday at 3 p.m. at Chipola College in Marianna, Fla.

Gaston College scored the first 11 points of Saturday's game, were ahead by 20 at the 9:31 mark of the opening half, by 61-33 at halftime and built as a much as a 44-point lead before taking the 40-point win.

The Rhinos had 20 assists of 44 made baskets as they pushed tempo and pass the ball around the horn offensively frequently throughout the victory.

'We want them to understand that the ball can't stick," Williams said. "When we pass the ball to the open man, it can be contagious."

Judah Ravenell led in assists with five and Love, Ukaegbu and Murchison had three apiece. Ukaegbu also had team-highs of 12 rebounds, six steals and three blocked shots and Ravenell had nine rebounds and Murchison seven rebounds.

Gaston College had three games with seven players scoring in double figures during their first eight seasons of competition from 1965 to 1972 in the 1968-69 once and in the 1971-72 season twice before adding their last seven double-figure scorer game on Nov. 28, 2021 in 122-77 victory over Blue Lights.