Gaston College closes out its non-conference schedule with home victory
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Central Carolina Community College | 42 | 36 | 78 |
|
Gaston College | 34 | 51 | 85 |
Less than two days after the highest-scoring game of the year, Gaston College struggled to regain its rhythm in the final non-conference game of the year.
But a strong second half led by the Rhinos' traditional balance sparked the team to an 85-78 win on Saturday afternoon over Central Carolina Community College at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School.
"It's always hard to step out of conference during your conference schedule," Gaston College head coach Benny Moss said. "But when you've lost your last home game, there needs to be better urgency."
The Rhinos, who improved to 17-3 overall, found that urgency after falling behind by 10 points twice in the first half and trailing 42-34 at halftime.
"Spencer Breeden and J.R. Watson and Judah Ravenell did a lot of the dirty work out there for us to battle back," Moss said.
Trailing 56-49 with 13:42 to play, Gaston College scored the next 14 points over the next four minutes to take the lead for good.
The Rhinos would eventually take a 10-point lead at 81-71 with 1:36 to play before taking the seven-point victory.
Ravenell (17 points, 6 rebounds), Tyheim Love (15 points), Breeden (14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks), Ryan Evans (10 points, 3 blocks), Jordan Brown (10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists), E.J. Joyner (5 points), Watson (5 points, 2 steals) and Kyhree McAlister (3 points, 7 rebounds) led Gaston College.
Gaston College was without starting center Jozohn Price due to an undisclosed injury.
"It was a good team win and we learned a lot," Moss said. "Now we step back into conference and try to continue to try to win one game at a time."
The Rhinos, who are tied for second place in Division of Region 10 with a 3-2 record, play three straight road league games before returning home. Gaston College plays at Caldwell Tech on Tuesday at 6 p.m., at Cape Fear Community College next Saturday at 3 p.m. and at Wake Tech on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. before returning home on Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. against Brunswick Community College.