‘Cats split Homecoming games

Saturday night proved to be a very eventful night at Georgia College & State University, as the school hosted Homecoming, Senior Night, and Alumni Day for former basketball players all in one night.
However, in the midst of all the festivities, two basketball games still had to be played, with both the Bobcats and Lady Bobcats moving in different directions as the regular season winds down.
The GC&SU women’s team reached the 20-win mark with an 83-59 victory over Francis Marion University, while the Bobcats gave the 12th ranked Patriots all it could handle in the nightcap, only to lose their sixth straight game, 77-64, in men’s action.
The women’s game got off to a slow start for the Lady Bobcats, as the visiting Patriots grabbed an early 9-2 lead with all five GC&SU seniors, Larkin Cleaveland, Breane Haggard, Rachael Jackson, Alicia Ransom and Adrienne Tucker, starting in their last game at the Centennial Center. However, the home team scored six unanswered points on back-to-back three-pointers by Ransom and Haggard to trail 9-8 with 15:45 left in the first half.
Francis Marion (12-11, 6-8 Peach Belt Conference), however, built its lead to five points on several occasions before GC&SU rallied to take its first lead of the game, 23-22, on a jumper by Alicia Porter with 4:11 remaining.
The Lady Bobcats increased the lead to six points on two occasions, before settling for a 34-31 lead at halftime.
The GC&SU women (20-5, 9-5) fired up to start the second half, as the Lady Bobcats opened the period on a 12-0 run, widening the lead to 46-31 on a jumper by Antionette Long with 15:34 left in regulation.
Later, Jackson built the lead to 59-42 after she made a jumper with 9:12. GC&SU never looked back, as the home team clinched its seventh 20-win under Head Coach John Carrick. The 21-year coaching veteran credited the Lady Bobcats’ defensive work for the win.
“We came out in the second half and turned up our defensive intensity,” Carrick said. “It was so great to have our seniors win their game and have a great time.”
Haggard gave an outstanding performance in her final home game as a Lady Bobcat, as the senior from Cohutta, Ga., finished with 20 points on six of nine shooting from the field, with 18 of those points coming from long distance.
Long also made a contribution to the GC&SU rally by scoring 11 points, while Kirsti Jones added nine points to go with seven steals.
In the men’s game, the Bobcats of GC&SU found themselves trailing before the game even tipped off, as the officials called a technical foul on the bench. Two free throws by Louis Mc Cullough gave Francis Marion (23-2, 13-1 PBC) a 2-0 lead.
GC&SU (6-19, 3-11) still managed to keep the game interesting for most of the first half, as FMU stretched the lead to as much as eight points only once at 22-14 with 11:10 to go in the period.
Then an 8-2 Bobcat run trimmed the gap to 24-22 with 9:22 left in the first half. The Patriots increased the lead to at least six points on several occasions before taking a 40-36 advantage into intermission.
The Bobcats continued to keep the game close for much of the second half, closing the deficit to three points on several occasions, the last on a trey by Tylan Gatling with 8:24 left in the game. However, the GC&SU men couldn’t stop Francis Marion down the stretch, as the Patriots finally got the lead to double digits thanks to two successful free throws by Jarron Hinton with 3:13 remaining in the game, and cruised to a 77-64 win, handing the Bobcats their sixth-straight loss.
Despite the losing streak, Head Coach Terry Sellers found some positives in his team’s struggles.
“I was really proud of our team tonight,” Sellers said. “I thought it was one of our best efforts of the season. We didn’t make the plays down the stretch, but we played an outstanding team [in FMU]. I feel good about the way the guys played, and I hope we can build on it as we go into our last two games and head for the tournament.”
McCullough finished with a game-high of 25 points for Francis Marion, while Randy Williams added 21 points.
Gatling, Kevin Benn and John Thomas each scored 12 points to lead the Bobcats in a losing cause.
GC&SU will wrap up their regular seasons with games Saturday at Clayton State University. The Peach Belt Tournament will begin March 2 in Augusta

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 27 2004. 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