Ball bounces in GC&SU’s favor

January 4

The Georgia College & State University basketball teams split a doubleheader against the University of North Florida in Peach Belt Conference action at the Centennial Center.

UNF overcame an early ten point deficit in the second half to knock off the Lady Bobcats, 70-63 in overtime, while the Bobcats fought off a stiff challenge from the Ospreys in the men’s contest, holding on for a 72-61 victory.

Women

In the women’s game, both GC&SU and UNF traded baskets back and forth throughout the first half, with the Lady Bobcats taking a 27-26 lead at halftime.

Early in the second half, GC&SU took a 45-35 lead with 14:32 remaining, but UNF went on a 15-4 run over the next 6:12 to take a 50-49 lead with 8:20 to play. The Lady Bobcats then reeled off six unanswered points to lead 55-50 with 5:21 to go in regulation. The Lady Ospreys, however, went on a 11-3 run over the next 3:44 to take a 61-58 lead before Dalana Watson tied the contest at 61-61 with a three point with 21 seconds left in regulation.

In the overtime period, UNF outscored GC&SU 9-2 while the Lady Bobcats were held to one of six shooting from the field.

GC&SU women’s head coach John Carrick was disappointed with the Lady Bobcats execution down the stretch.

“[UNF] hit their shots, and we didn’t,” Carrick said. “It was a very poorly played game by us. I don’t know why, but we had way too many turnovers, which is giving [UNF] the basketball. Offensive rebounds killed us in the overtime, when [UNF] had other shots towards the end of the game. We just had a hard time putting the ball in the hole.”

Dalana Watson led all scorers with 20 points. Breane Haggard was the only other GC&SU player to score in double figures, finishing the game with 11 points in a losing cause.

Despite shooting almost 89 percent from the free throw line, turnovers proved to be very costly for the Lady Bobcats in the loss, committing 27 miscues compared to the 18 committed by the Lady Ospreys.

Men

In the men’s contest, the Bobcats built a lead of 11 points (26-15) with 8:21 left in the first half before the Ospreys rallied to narrow the gap to 33-30 by halftime.

In the second half, UNF continued to keep the game close, closing the gap to 46-43 with 8:44 to play, but could get no closer. Rodney Keener led a balanced Bobcat scoring attack in the victory, finishing with a game-high 20 points, while Daryl Ruffus scored 12 points, Tylan Gatling and Cooper Sellers each added 10 points.

Head Coach Terry Sellers praised the Bobcats effort in the UNF win.

“It was an extremely big win for us,” he said. “They worked extremely hard when they got back from the holidays, and I’m really glad they got something to show for it.”

Sellers also liked his team’s performance defensively against the Ospreys, who just 36.1 percent from the field, including 23.1 percent from three-point range.

“(The defense) was good again, and we made enough free throws down the stretch, and made enough shots to come away with a victory,” Sellers said.

January 8

The Georgia College & State University basketball teams swept UNC Pembroke in Peach Belt Conference action on Jan. 8, with the Lady Bobcats winning a 68-60 decision over the Lady Braves in the women’s game, while the Bobcats completed the sweep with a 82-45 rout in the nightcap.

Women

The women’s game opened in a back-and-forth fashion, as both teams traded baskets en route to a 12-9 UNCP lead with 14:18 left in the first half. After a Jameka Dixon layup put the Lady Braves ahead 18-17 with 9:40 left in the first half, the Lady Bobcats took the lead for good with 10-0 run over the next 6:38 that made the score 28-18 with 3:02 to go. GC&SU led 31-22 at halftime.

In the second half, GC&SU built a 52-38 lead with 11:06 remaining in the contest, and 54-40 with 9:29 to go. But UNCP wouldn’t go away, as the Lady Braves cut the deficit to as low as 62-55 with 3:18 to play in regulation. But the Lady Bobcats kept the Lady Braves at bay by shooting 12 of 22 from the field for 54.5 percent in the second half and 11 of 16 from the free-throw line for 68.8 percent.

But it was the turnovers, or lack thereof, that impressed Head Coach John Carrick the most.

“I think the difference was making (GC&SU) aware of how important it is (to avoid mistakes),” he said. “I really believe when you’re a running team, you get satisfied, or you don’t get as mad at yourself when you turn the ball over, because as a running team you’re going to (commit turnovers).”

Andrea Lee led all scorers with 25 points to pace the Lady Bobcats winning effort. Dalana Watson had 17 points, while Adrienne Tucker added 10 points for GC&SU.

Carrick praised Tucker’s efforts in the UNCP victory.

“I think (Tucker) played one of her best games,” he said. “She’s played like she’s capable of playing all the time.”

Men

In the men’s game, Head Coach Terry Sellers believed his team was ready to rise to the challenge against UNC Pembroke.

“If our guys hadn’t come out ready to play, (UNCP) would’ve pulled off their first win,” he said.

For a while, it appeared the Braves would do just that, as they reeled the game’s first four points en route to an 8-3 lead four minutes into the first half. But the Bobcats finally caught on fire, as GC&SU went on a 10-4 run to take their first lead of the night at 13-12 with 12:56 to go. However, a three-pointer gave UNCP a 15-13 advantage with 11:21 remaining. Eight seconds, Roosevelt Whitney put GC&SU ahead to stay with a three-point shot of his own. That shot started a 13-0 run which enabled the Bobcats to gain a 26-15 lead with 5:48 left in the contest.

Whitney finished the game with a career-high 23 points, while Daryl Ruffus scored 13 points, and Rodney Keener turned another good effort with 11 points.

The second half was all GC&SU, as the Bobcats swelled their lead to 70-40 with 7:46 left, then 72-40 with 7:12 to play en route to the easy win.

The Bobcats forced 29 UNCP turnovers, which Sellers believes contributed to the rout.

“I thought that was probably the key stat (UNCP miscues) for the whole game,” he said.

January 15

Twenty years ago, pop music superstar Michael Jackson had probably one of the biggest hits of all time, as his single “Thriller” topped the charts.

In Peach Belt Conference basketball action Wednesday night, both Georgia College & State University and Clayton College & State University gave new meaning to the word “thriller,” with both games going down to the wire. The Bobcats pulled off a 69-68 upset win over the Lakers in overtime, while the Lady Bobcats stunned the Lady Lakers 52-50 in the women’s contest.

Women

In the women’s game, things got off to a slow start for both squads, as Larkin Cleaveland scored the first points of the night to give GC&SU a 2-0 lead. However, more than four minutes would pass before the Lady Bobcats (9-4, 4-2 PBC) scored their next basket on a jumper by Dalana Watson, who finished with a game-high 17 points.

After building an 11-4 lead with 13:39 left in the first half, the seesaw battle began between both teams as CC&SU (9-3, 4-2) went on a 9-2 run over the next 7:31 to take their first and only lead with 6:08 to go. GC&SU then responded with a 10-2 over the final seconds of the half to lead 23-17 at halftime.

In the second half, Clayton State kept the game close, with the visitors wiping out a 46-34 lead in a span of 7:08 to tie the score at 50-50 with 23 seconds remaining in regulation. However, after the Lady Bobcats called three timeouts during that span, Breane Haggard hit the game-winning jumper with two seconds left, giving GC&SU a
much-needed win.

Watson believed the win over Clayton State was important for GC&SU.

“I felt that we needed to beat (Clayton State), because they were 9-2,” she said.

Although Haggard managed to score only two points, they proved to be the most important two points of the game. The junior guard from Cohutta, Ga. explained the game-winning shot.

“(Watson) had just said that this play was going to work, it’s a play we always run,” she said. “We’ve run (the game-winning play) before in a game, and a girl went through to the corner as I came back, and I just knew that I had to nail it, so I didn’t want to put it into overtime, I just wanted to end (the game) there.”

Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week Catreia Shaw, along with Allyson Rutledge, each scored 18 points to lead Clayton State in a losing cause.

Men

In the men’s game, the Bobcats raced out to a quick 9-3 lead with 16:07 to go. But another back-and-forth battle would ensue for the rest of the night, as the Lakers rallied to take a 13-10 advantage with 11:37 left in the first half. Both teams continued to trade baskets and turn the ball over constantly, with Clayton State taking a 33-29 lead into intermission.

The second half proved to provide more of the same action, with GC&SU rallying to take a 44-43 lead with 10:41 left in regulation. The Bobcats then built a 59-55 lead with 3:29 to play before the Lakers came back to tie the game at 59-59 with 2:18 to go. Both teams then traded three pointers in the closing seconds to end regulation with a 62-62 tie.

In overtime, Daryl Ruffus, who finished with a game-high 19 points,
broke the 62-all tie with a driving lay-up followed by a foul, only to miss the free throw, giving possession back to Clayton State. The overtime session saw four ties and five lead changes, the last coming when Johnnie Stafford scored what proved to be the game-winner with 13.4 seconds left in overtime. The Lakers (9-4, 4-2 PBC) had one last chance to win, but their attempt fell short.

Stafford explained how he helped the Bobcats (7-5, 4-2) win a critical contest.

“(Head Coach Terry Sellers) told me to get inside, because my percentage outside was low, so I got inside and he said give them what you got,” he said. Stafford added. “(Clayton State) kept giving me more and more room, so I got closer and closer, and I made a lay-up.”

Sellers believed that beating the Lakers was critical to the Bobcats staying in the PBC South Division race.

“It was a huge win,” he said. “Clayton State’s an excellent team, and anytime you get win against a top team, it should be a confidence booster for (GC&SU), and the guys played so hard tonight. Hopefully, we can build on this, and get Rodney Keener back, and continue to improve.”

Keener did not play in Wednesday’s game due to sore legs.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 17 2003. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry