SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Goldey-Beacom College men's basketball team will try to bounce back from a season-opening home loss to West Chester last week as the Lightning visit the undefeated Red Raiders of Shippensburg University Mon. night, 7 p.m. at the Heiges Field House.
GBC (0-1) was the last team in the East Region to begin play this season, and has had to open with two undefeated teams, both from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference: West Chester (3-0) on Tues., Nov. 24, and now Shippensburg (4-0) on Mon. night.
Against West Chester, the Lightning suffered a tough, 67-64 loss. Ralph Hegamin's only three-point field goal of the night gave West Chester a 64-60 lead with just over a minute left in regulation, and Elie Daniel's two free-throws with three seconds remaining sealed the WCU victory.
The game featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes. West Chester held a slight, 29-28 rebounding advantage and turned the ball over 10 times to GBC's 16. The Lightning were led by four scorers in double-figures: senior guard Kyle White (20 points, four assists), junior forward Terrence Parkes (14 points, six rebounds), junior guard Sam McDuffie (13 points, six rebounds), and junior guard Azeez Ellegood (11 points, two assists, three steals).
The Red Raiders are coming off a 63-53 win at Wilmington on Tues., Nov. 24. Shippensburg was led by redshirt freshman guard Lamar Jackson with 16 points, and the Red Raiders out-rebounded the Wildcats 42-26. SU recorded 15 offensive rebounds and scored 14 second-chance points while holding Wilmington to just three offensive rebounds and zero second-chance points.
The Red Raiders are led by three scorers who are averaging double-figures for the season: Daziah Miller (13.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg), Tariek Belcher (11.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg) and Will Royal (10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg). Brian Oleksiak leads the team in rebounds with 7.3 boards per game.
These two schools met last season on Nov. 19, 2008 at the Jones Center, with visiting Shippensburg coming away with a 75-64 victory. The Red Raiders were led by four players in double-figures. McDuffie led the Lightning with 17 points and three assists in the loss.
GBC will try to avoid its first 0-2 start to the season since 2006-07. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. Fans can follow Live Stats via the Shippensburg athletics website by following this link.
