Gaston College drops high-scoring game to nation's top offense

Gaston College's basketball team went through the extremes of playing style and emotions in back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday nights at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School.

After grinding out a 58-54 win over Denmark Tech on Wednesday, the Rhinos came up just short on Thursday in a 104-100 loss to USC Salkehatchie.

The loss drops Gaston College to 16-3 overall and 3-2 in Division I of Region 10.

Facing the country's highest-scoring team - the visiting Indians entered the contest averaging 114.2 points per game - the contest was filled with fast-paced play, fouls and free throws that made the game last two hours and 15 minutes.

"Give them credit," Gaston College coach Benny Moss said of USC Salkehatchie (14-4, 3-1). "They play that way and they turned it into that type of game.
"In the first half, I thought we shied away from their pressure. We got it out of the trap and we didn't look up the floor. I thought in the second half, we did a better job of attacking the pressure, getting into the paint and scoring."

The pace of the game was slowed by a combined 61 fouls, three technicals and 77 free throws by the two teams.

The Rhinos led by as many as five points at 35-30 with 7:06 left in the first half and the Indians led by as many as nine points at 99-90 with 3:18 to play.

Gaston College would rally within 101-98 and 103-100 in the final 1:28 but USC Salkehatchie converted three of their last four free throws in the final 36.5 seconds to sew up the victory.

"When they're calling as many fouls as they're calling, we have to do a better job of understanding how the game is being called," Moss said. "And we have to put the pressure back on the referees.
"I thought we were too content to settle for some jumpshots instead of getting it into the paint and putting the onus on the officials to blow the whistle. That's part of learning. Hopefully we'll learn and get better from it."

The Rhinos got their usual offensive balance and had a pair of 20-point scorers.

Freshman E.J. Joyner (21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), sophomore Jordan Brown (20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists), freshman Spencer Breeden (17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists), sophomore Tyheim Love (16 points), sophomore Judah Ravenell (9 points, 6 rebounds) and freshman Jozohn Price (7 points, 3 rebounds) led Gaston College.

The Rhinos play their final non-league game of the year on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Ashbrook against Central Carolina Community College before closing the regular season with nine Division I Region 10 games.

"It's another opportunity to play," Moss said of Saturday's games. "We've now lost two games at home and we shouldn't be losing at home. So we've got to respond and we've got to come out and play our third game in four days and bring the right approach and the right energy."