Second half struggles doom Gaston College basketball in Region 10 opener

Gaston College couldn't have asked for a better start to its Region 10 basketball season - at least for a half.

Unfortunately for the Rhinos, Brunswick Community College and its 6-foot-10 and 6-foot-9 frontcourt standouts led the Dolphins to a second half comeback and, ultimately, an 86-75 victory on Sunday afternoon.

Gaston College, which fell to 9-4 overall and 0-1 in Region 10, returns to action at home again next Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Ashbrook High School gymnasium against Cape Fear Community College.

"We must find a way of putting two good halves together," Rhinos coach Jamie Rosser said. "When you're undersized, the fight has to be much tougher, along with total focus, especially when fatigue sets in. I thought we did fine in the first half, except for about five points that we gave away from a lack of focus at the end of the half, it was a momentum shift at the end of the half that ultimately led to the second half.
"Foul trouble really hurt us with Caleb (McCarty) being out due to an Achilles and ankle injury, and missed free throws hurt us too."

With starting center Yarayah Evans picking up his fourth foul in the second half, Rosser had to shuffle his lineup with McCarty out for a third straight game since getting injured in Gaston College's final game of the first semester on December 10.

"We just didn't have enough to compete with their two bigs," Rosser said of 6-9 Kouri Carvey and 6-10 Sam Hood. "Those are some really good big guys that play their positions well. They do a great job using angles and their size to be effective."

Carvey scored 11 of his game-high 20 points in the second half and Hood 11 of his 19 points in the second half as Brunswick Community College (10-9, 2-1) rallied from a 43-34 halftime deficit to ruin the Rhinos' Region 10 opener at home.

Dee Merriweather (17 points, 6 rebounds), Tyree Bracey (11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots), Asil Hoyle (9 points, 3 rebounds), Jamal Ukaegbu (9 points, 7 rebounds), DaMarco Watson (9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals), Evans (7 points) and Dedrick Givens (6 points, 3 rebounds) led Gaston College's balanced attack.

The Rhinos were outrebounded 46-38 overall with the Dolphins getting 13 offensive rebounds and Gaston College also shot 14 of 26 from the free throw line.

"It'll be a long week of practice, but we still have to believe and stick together because my guys did show some fight and good moments," Rosser said. "The biggest area that coaches hate coaching is effort. Our effort must get better. Those 50-50 balls must be something that we fall in love with. Ultimately, I must do a better job managing situations, and having the right pieces in the game and that will help the game flow smoother."