Boxscore
PIKE CREEK, Del. – Senior guard Kyle White paced the Lightning with 25 points, a career-high eight assists and six rebounds as the Goldey-Beacom College men's basketball team cruised past the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference's top North Division team, Bloomfield College with an 88-61 victory Sat. afternoon at the Joseph West Jones Center.
The Lightning, who sit atop the CACC South Division, improved to 14-4 overall and 8-1 in conference play as they sent the Deacons (13-4, 7-1) to their first conference loss of the season.
White led four Lightning players in double-figures: junior forward Terrence Parkes notched his ninth double-double of the season with 18 points and 14 rebounds and junior guards Sam McDuffie and Azeez Ellegood tallied 14 points, apiece. Senior forward Troy Esquilin pitched in nine points and five rebounds and junior guard Jon Crawford came off the bench and gave GBC a lift with eight points on perfect shooting (3-of-3) from the field and three-point range (2-of-2).
GBC outshot Bloomfield 55 percent (34-for-62) to 28 percent (21-for-75) from the field and 50 percent (7-for-14) to 17 percent (5-for-29) from three-point range. The Lightning also held a 49-39 rebounding advantage and distributed the ball more effectively for 18 assists to just four by the Deacons.
The Lightning held the CACC's leading scorer Gage Daye (26.3 ppg) to eight points below his average, as the 6-2 junior had to settle for 18 points on 4-for-26 shooting from the field (2-for-11 from three-point range) and 8-for-12 from the free-throw line. Ryan Rodrigues was the only other Deacon in double-figures with 13 points.
GBC opened the game with a 14-0 surge on the strength of six points by White and five by Ellegood, and the Lightning never looked back. BC did answer that 14-0 run with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to nine, but that would be the closest the Deacons would get the rest of the way.
The Lightning outscored the Deacons 18-8 in the paint and shot 45 percent from the field while holding the CACC's top-scoring offense to a dreadful 18 percent (6-for-33) as they took a commanding 33-19 lead into intermission.
Head coach Chuck Hammond's squad did not let up in the second half, never allowing the Deacons within 13 points and running up its lead to as many as 29 (88-59) before clearing his bench with under a minute left to play. Ryan Rodrigues's layup with 28 seconds would give the game its final score of 88-61.
White and McDuffie, who has now scored in double-figures 10 straight games, were the catalysts in the second half with 14 points apiece. Parkes and Ellegood each also pitched in with nine.
The Lightning will now look to sweep the season series against CACC South Division foe Chestnut Hill College when they host the Griffins at the Jones Center on Feb. 2 at 8 p.m.
