Men struggle; Women Roll

Men

The Bobcats of Georgia College & State University played host to Albany State University in their home opener Tuesday night at the Centennial Center.
After splitting their first two games of the 2003-04 season at the Lander Classic in Greenwood, S.C., with a 70-54 loss to Anderson last Saturday and a 69-51 win over Mars Hill last Sunday, the GC&SU men could not overcome a late first-half drought and lost to the Golden Rams 79-65.
The Bobcats (1-2) and the Golden Rams (1-0) traded baskets early in the contest, with GC&SU gaining its largest lead with a 14-8 advantage, thanks to two free throws by John Thomas early in the first half. Then, a jumper by Freshman Willie Francis gave the Bobcats a 21-18 advantage with 9:50 remaining in the game.
However, that would be the Bobcats’ last lead of the game, as the Golden Rams outscored GC&SU 11-0 over the next five minutes, before Kevin Benn’s jumper made the score 29-23. However, Albany State would reel off eight straight points in a span of 3:26, giving the Golden Rams their largest lead of their first half with a 37-24 advantage as time winded down. ASU led 39-28 at halftime.
Things didn’t get much better for the Bobcats in the second half, as Albany State increased its lead to 18 points on several occasions, the last time at 66-48 with 5:34 left in the contest.
GC&SU went on a 10-2 run over a span of less than four minutes, holding ASU to just two free throws to cut the deficit to 68-58 with 1:51 to go.
After being fouled by Albany State’s Jarett Mathis, Senior Duke Gibbs sank three free throws to put GC&SU within nine points at 74-65 with 23 seconds left. The Bobcats could not get any closer, as the Golden Rams scored the game’s last five points to take home the victory.
Poor shooting hurt GC&SU during the latter part of the first half as the Bobcats shot just 38.5 percent on the court with 10 out of 26 shots, while Albany State went 12-of-27 from the field for 44.4 percent.
The Bobcats would go on to shoot a dismal 36.8 percent for the game, including just 2-13 from a three-point range, while the Golden Rams shot 43.1 percent for the contest.
Head Coach Terry Sellers summed up the Bobcats’ poor performance in two sentences.
“We just didn’t play well tonight,” he said. “Albany State came in, played a good ballgame and deserved to win.”
Benn, Francis and Gibbs carried much of the scoring load for the Bobcats in a losing cause, with each player scoring 11 points. However, no other GC&SU player scored more than eight points.
Meanwhile, Flem Tucker scored a game-high of 27 points to lead the Golden Rams in the victory. Nick Wallery scored 18 points, while Mathis added 10 points for ASU.
ASU also had a big advantage on the boards, with the Golden Rams edging out the Bobcats 45-31 in the rebounding department. In addition, Albany State made their free throws when it counted, shooting 77.8 percent from the foul line in the first half and 64.7 percent for the game.
The GC&SU men now have a long layoff ahead of them before their next game against defending SIAC Champion Morehouse on Nov. 28, followed by perennial power West Georgia in the Exchange Bank Classic, the following day.
Sellers said his team must regroup and work even harder in the days ahead.
“We’re going to get a lot of good practice in,” Sellers said. “We’ve got a long way to go, and a lot of work to do, so we’re going to try to work as hard as we can so we can prepare for our next game.”

Women

After opening the season with a hard-fought 69-61 win on the road over Montevallo, the Georgia College & State University women’s basketball team got their first taste of home cooking Wednesday night against Saint Leo.
The aftermath of the game left a bitter taste in the mouths of their Florida visitors, as the Lady Bobcats improved to 2-0 with an easy 86-49 victory over the Lions.
GC&SU scored early and often, as the Lady Bobcats raced to a 7-2 lead less than four minutes into the contest. Saint Leo wouldn’t score again until the 14:01 mark in the first half, when Andrea Baluarte made one of two free throws to make the score 12-3 in favor of the GC&SU women. The Lady Bobcats then increased the lead to 17 points on numerous occasions throughout the rest of the half, taking a 37-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Saint Leo then opened the second half by going on an 10-2 run to narrow the gap 39-29 with 17:27 left. GC&SU quickly righted the ship to reel off seven unanswered points in less than two minutes to increase the lead to 46-29. Two free throws by Latia Love, who finished the game with 12 points, gave the Lady Bobcats a 52-31 advantage with 13:33 remaining.
More than a minute later, GC&SU went on a 6-0 run to gain an even bigger lead at 58-31. Then, a lay-up by Antoinette Long with 4:04 left gave the Lady Bobcats a 74-44 lead. Long finished the contest with a game-high of 26 points.
An intense press executed throughout the game proved to be the difference for the GC&SU women throughout the contest, as the Lady Bobcats forced 38 turnovers, many of those coming on steals. GC&SU also had an advantage on the boards, as the Lady Bobcats outrebounded Saint Leo 55-39, while also holding the Lions to just 34 percent shooting for the game, allowing only eight of 30 shots from the field for 26.7 percent in the first half.
Head Coach John Carrick credited the defense for forcing the numerous Saint Leo turnovers, but also felt that his team’s rebounding was an important asset.
“It’s our aggressive defense,” he said. “This is a team that will crash the boards, this is a team that will not be out-rebounded consistently throughout [the season].”
Kirsti Jones also turned a decent performance in just her second game in a GC&SU uniform, as the junior from Naples, Fla. scored 10 points, three assists and two rebounds. Long also shared high rebounding honors with Junior Alicia Porter, as both players grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Lady Bobcats.
GC&SU will now face its first real test of the season this weekend, with the Lady Bobcats traveling to Kennesaw, Ga. to face Catawba and Mars Hill in the Kennesaw State Classic. The GC&SU women return home next Tuesday to host Montevallo, and then will host West Georgia Dec. 2 before spending the rest of the month on the road.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 21 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