Gaston College suffers first loss despite second half rally

Gaston College's unbeaten season was ended on Thursday even after a valiant Rhinos' second half comeback in an 86-84 loss to unbeaten Gordon State.

Trailing by 17 points with 14:38 to play, Gaston College forged two late leads before four Gordon State free throws in the final 55 seconds gave the Highlanders enough to outlast the Rhinos.

"There were some ticky-tack fouls that were called, and we've got to do a better job and not let that happen," Gaston College head coach Jamie Rosser said. "We can't be reaching in. We've got to be surer in those situations."

The Rhinos (5-1) are off until a November 30 rematch against Gordon State (5-0) at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School.

"We were productive," Rosser said. "But we've got to get back to our personality, which is defense first. We didn't get the stops that we normally get. We gave them wide open layups in transitions. We gave up open 3-point shots. When you're playing a really good team, you can't allow easy baskets."

The Highlanders led 49-42 at halftime and were ahead 67-50 with 14:38 to play before Rosser used a 1-3-1 zone defense that sparked a 19-4 surge that pulled them within 3, at 71-69.

Then Gordon State built a 76-71 lead before a 10-4 surge gave the Rhinos their first lead since early in the first half at 81-80.

The Rhinos led 84-82 with 1:05 to play but missed a shot on each of their last three possessions while Gordon State was converting four of six free throws in the final 55 seconds.

Gaston College had a balanced attack led by Dedrick Givens (13 points, 8 rebounds), DaMarco Watson (13 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists), Joshua Johnson (11 points, 3 rebounds), Jamal Ukaegbu (8 points, 11 rebounds), Caleb McCarty (11 points), Asil Hoyle (10 points) and Yaya Evans (8 points).

"I'm proud of my guys for giving a good fight," Rosser said. "We could've layed down when we were down 17. But we responded."