Gaston College basketball gets milestone win in one of the highest-scoring games in school history

Gaston College's basketball team picked up a milestone victory with the second-highest scoring game in school history in Wednesday night's 125-119 overtime win at USC Salkehatchie is Region 10 Division I action.

The Rhinos took their 20th win for the first time since the school won 20 or more games in four straight seasons from 1969 to 1972.

And the 244 total points in the contest is only surpassed by the 246 scored in Gaston College's 174-72 win over Montreat Anderson at Gastonia's old Groves Gym on Dec. 15, 1969.

"It's a great win for us and we certainly had to work hard for it," first-year Gaston College coach Benny Moss said.

The Rhinos (20-7, 6-6) trailed by seven in the first half and were behind 106-99 with 2:03 left in regulation before scoring the final seven points of regulation to force the extra period.

Gaston College rallied behind Jordan Brown's 3-pointer with 1:45 to play, Tyheim Love's two free throws with 1:04 to play, E.J. Joyner's driving layup with 19.3 seconds left and a defensive stop on the Indians' final possession.

In overtime, the Rhinos never trailed as Judah Ravenell scored eight points, Brown six, Joyner four and Ryan Evans three while handing USC Salkehatchie (21-7, 8-4) its first home loss of the season after 15 straight victories.

"Judah and Jordan played like you have to have out of your sophomores if you're going to win a road game like this," Moss said. "And we got contributions from every guy we put on the floor - and needed them all."

Ravenell (30 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists), Brown (25 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists), Ryan Evans (18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks), Kyhree McAlister (15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks), Joyner (12 points, 7 assists), Landon Sprouse (9 points), Tyheim Love (7 points), Spencer Breeden (5 points, 6 rebounds) and Ben Stevens (4 points, 3 rebounds) led Gaston College's balanced attack.

"We knew it'd be an up and down game," said Moss, whose team lost to USC Salkehatchie 104-100 on Jan. 22 at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School. "We got a big defensive stop at the end of regulation and we got stops and rebounded well in the overtime."

The Rhinos remain on the road with their Region 10 road finale on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Brunswick Community College. Gaston College will then play its final home game at Ashbrook on March 5 at 7 p.m. against Caldwell Tech.