Bobcats steal one on road to end 2-game slide
The GCSU men’s basketball team came out of its two-game losing slump this past Wednesday when it defeated Georgia Southwestern, 61-60.
Both teams came into the game playing aggressively, but it was the Hurricanes who took control. Southwestern was able to maintain its lead over the Bobcats and the first half ended with the Hurricanes leading.
Once the second half began, the Bobcats continued to trail Southwestern for the majority of the half. As the end of the game was approaching, GCSU turned the game around.
With just 21 seconds remaining and the Bobcats trailing 60-59, senior guard Graham Martin picked off a Southwestern pass and GCSU ran the clock down to five seconds before junior forward Josh Hurst was fouled.
Hurst sank both of his shots from the free-throw line and pulled GCSU ahead by one with the score of 61-60, giving the Bobcats the lead for the first time. With just seconds remaining in the game, the Hurricanes tried to take back the lead but were unable to do so and the Bobcats defeated Georgia Southwestern 61-60.
The Bobcats’ 12-game winning streak was brought to an end this past Thursday when they were defeated at Augusta State, 84-67.
When the first half started, the Jaguars wasted no time in pulling ahead of the Bobcats. With 12:58 remaining, Augusta State made a 3-pointer that secured its first lead over 10 points, 18-6.
As the first half progressed the Jaguars began to increase the lead. When 1:55 remained in the half, a layup from Augusta State gave them their first 20-point lead, leaving the GCSU trailing 39-19. The Jaguars managed to keep their lead at 20 points when the first half ended with the Bobcats behind 44-24.
When the second half started, Augusta State remained in control. Even so, the Bobcats did not quit. When 10:28 remained, GCSU was able to bring the point gap down to nine points when junior forward Trent Fildes made two shots from the charity line that put the score at 54-45.
Even though the Bobcats were able to decrease the point gap, they were unable to take control of the game and were defeated with the final score of 84-67.
“It was a bad first half, the second half wasn’t bad, we played pretty well in the second half,” senior guard Ty Rowland said. “We made our run to try to get back in the game but the first half we just didn’t come ready to play.”
GCSU suffered its first home game loss of the season on Saturday when the Bobcats were defeated by USC Aiken 69-65.
At the start of the game, both teams played aggressively and appeared evenly matched. Throughout the half, the lead constantly went back and forth between the two and during the entire first half; neither team earned a lead greater than five points. When 1:19 remained, senior forward Robert Thomas made a layup to give GCSU the lead of 32-28 to end the first half.
When the second half began, the Pacers stepped up their game and quickly seized the lead. When 14:19 remained, a 3-pointer made by USC Aiken gave them their first lead over 10 points.
Even though the Bobcats were playing aggressively, they were unable to take back the lead. When the end of the game was approaching, GCSU came close to catching up several times near the end of the game, they only were behind by a few points. However, the Bobcats could not manage to take control and the game ended in a 69-65 defeat.
“It’s our concentration, it has nothing to do with our skill factor or us making shots,” senior guard Graham Martin said. “It just our effort we’re putting forth and staying concentrated the whole game, staying focused on winning the game and not letting up.”
The Bobcats are at home this Saturday as they face Columbus State in the Homecoming game at 3:30 p.m.
“This time of year, it’s not one component to work on, it’s everything,” head coach Terry Sellers said. “We’ve just got to work on both ends of the court, more executions on offense and better stops on defense.”
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