Gaston College opens second semester with high-scoring victory

Gaston College came from a 22-day layoff with a high-scoring 115-100 road victory over the Lees-McRae Developmental team on Monday night.

The Rhinos improved to 6-7 with a season-high 31 assists and a 66-point second half after the host Bobcats used seven 3-pointers in the first half to take a 50-49 lead at the break.

Gaston College scored the first eight points of the second half and Lees-McRae got no closer than three the rest of the way and once led by as many as 21 points.

"It was a great win for the guys and program to kickstart 2024 as we prepare for conference," Gaston College interim coach Jermaine Williams said. "I liken the game to a last game dress rehearsal before we open at Spartanburg Methodist on Thursday.

The Rhinos had a balanced attack led by Tyheim Love (28 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists), Kush Carter (13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists), Jalante Edwards (13 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists), Branden Burnell (11 points, 6 rebounds), Michael Smith (10 points) and Yarayah Evans (6 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocked shots).

Love had 14 points in each half and his 28 points were an individual high for the season, Burnell and Evans were playing in their first games of the season and all 15 Rhinos who played scored at least two points.

"Everyone got a chance to play and everyone got a chance to score," Williams said. "That opportunity and game reps will change Thursday but I was thankful to get guys some game action.
"We started out flat and reactive instead of being proactive. We subbed and those guys were even more flat. I'm sure the mixture of the break, rhythm, timing, altitude and sheer rust played factors. We settled in to our intended style of play and the ball got great energy. We played tough, shared the ball and we got rolling with scoring."

The Rhinos open their 16-game Region 10 schedule on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Spartanburg Methodist in their next game.

Gaston College plays its first home game in more than a month on Sunday at 2 p.m. against Brunswick Community College at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School.

"I'm thankful we got the playing opportunity before conference," Williams said. "I'm thankful for the coaching opportunity and now it's serious work ahead of us. That's been the case all along but now everything is tuned up. Our goal is to win conference. I won't shy away from that. We're not expected to win but we are expecting just that, to win games and to win conference.
"Spartanburg Methodist and the other Region 10 opponents are great teams. Conference play will be an absolute dog fight. I look forward to the challenge and making sure we're in position to compete to the highest levels."