Gaston College's second half rally nets fourth straight victory

For a second straight game, Gaston College closed out a victory with a strong closing finish as it rallied from eight-point deficits in each half before taking a 77-66 victory over Virginia Peninsula Community College on Saturday afternoon at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School.

The Rhinos improved to 4-1 on the season behind a 16-4 surge in the final 4 1/2 minutes.

"They were undefeated for a reason," first-year Gaston College coach Benny Moss said. "To our credit, we battled for 40 minutes. We finally got the lead late in the second half and we pushed it out from there."

Like the Rhinos did in rallying from a 12-point deficit in Wedneday's 73-66 win at Central Carolina Community College, they overcome some shooting struggles before rallying for the win.

"That's a sign of good teams and we're trying to become a good team," Moss said. "You have to find ways to win when you're not shooting the ball well and missing your free throws.
"We've just got to continue to play unselfishly and look to make plays for our teammates. If we do that, the shots will start falling."

As it has all season long, Gaston College had a balanced offensive attack.

Sophomore Judah Ravenell (15 points, 8 rebounds), freshman E.J. Joyner (15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), sophomore Tyheim Love (11 points), sophomore Jordan Brown (10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists), freshman Ryan Evans (8 points, 5 rebounds), freshman Spencer Breeden (5 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists) and freshman Jozohn Price (6 rebounds) led the Rhinos.

Brown, who missed the season-opening loss to top-ranked Davidson-Davie Community College, continues to round into form. An Atlanta native who is being recruited by 14 NCAA Division I schools, scored eight of his 10 points and had all five of his assists in the second half.

That includes a driving layup with 4:30 to play that gave the Rhinos the lead for good at 63-62.

"He started to look like himself in the second half," Moss said of Brown. "He looked to be running full steam and he made plays for himself and his teammates."

Brown, Ravenell, Joyner, freshman J.R. Watson and Price and Evans (when Price fouled out in the final minute) were the group that led the closing surge with Watson hit all four of his free throws in the final 24.7 seconds to close out the 11-point victory.

"I'm proud of J.R. Watson," Moss said. "He hasn't been playing lately but he came in and played great defense (on their top scorer) and that's a tribute to him to sticking with it and being ready."

The Rhinos host Guilford Tech on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. at Ashbrook before travelling to nearby Cleveland Community College on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. game before closing out the week next Sunday against the Catawba College junior varsity at 2 p.m. at Ashbrook.