Tiebreaker helps Gaston College advance into Region 10 tournament while riding two-game winning streak

Gaston College found out Saturday that its basketball season would indeed continue after a Region 10 result gave the Rhinos the tiebreaker to claim the No. 8 seed in this week's postseason championship tournament at Hickory's Catawba Valley Community College.

A season filled with frustration ended with an 11-19 overall record, 3-13 Region 10 slate and two-game winning streak after last Wednesday's 87-77 win over Richard Bland College.

But it wasn't until Wake Tech handed Caldwell Tech its first home league defeat since February 2022 that Gaston College knew it had postseason life since the No. 9 team in the league didn't make the league tournament.

Now with that second life in the form of Thursday's noon tournament quarterfinal against Caldwell Tech (26-3, 14-2), the Rhinos are ready to take advantage of their opportunity.

"It was frustrating in the first half of the season but we've been able to persevere," sophomore forward Yarayah Evans said. "Everybody wants to keep playing in March and our goal is to play winning basketball in March."

Gaston College or one of the other seven Region 10 teams in the tournament field are now three wins away from qualifying for the National Junior College Athletic Association championship tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, later this month.

"The power of prayer is a real thing," Rhinos interim head coach Jermaine Williams said. "I prayed, I had my sister, cousin, and others prayers. The team was locked in on sending the vibes, prayers to Wake Tech for the win.
"It personally wouldn't have felt right to have finished the season as so. We won, have been playing well, getting better and the season is over. Now we are here. God is not done with the team or season yet. So, we are here.
"We made the conference tourney. We are looking to win. It will be fun, as we compete, continue to grow, be blessed for the opportunity to hoop, and play like there's no tomorrow."

The chore won't be easy as Gaston College faces the No. 22-ranked team in the NJCAA final poll - and the Cobras have been as high as No. 17.

Caldwell Tech also beat the Rhinos twice in the regular season - 94-66 on Jan. 31 at Caldwell Tech and 91-66 on Feb. 21 at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School.

"I've seen Caldwell a few times and I respect them a lot," Williams said. "But we're going to game plan and our game plan will be to win."

The current two-game winning streak has seen the Rhinos lead wire-to-wire in back-to-back games after a season in which Gaston College has held the lead in 17 of its 19 losses including leads in the second half of 11 of those games.

The Rhinos have been led by a balanced attack with freshman Tyheim Love (13.9 points per game, 2.0 assists), sophomores Asil Hoyle (12.6 points, 4.1 assists) and Evans (12.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.9 blocks), freshmen Judah Ravenell (9.1 points, 5.7 rebounds) and Kush Carter (8.7 points) and sophomores Jamal Ukaegbu (8.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.4 blocks) and Michael Smith (6.2 points, 4.8 rebounds) leading the way.