PIKE CREEK, Del. – The Goldey-Beacom College men's and women's basketball teams will play host to Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference foe, Nyack College on Sat., Feb. 13 at the Joseph West Jones Center. The women will tip things off at 1 p.m., and the men will follow at approximately 3 p.m.
Fans who cannot make the game can watch a live webcast via PennAtlantic. Joe DiGiacomo will call the play-by-play, and he will offer pre-game analysis approximately 10 minutes before both games.
Women's Game: GBC (12-9, 8-5 CACC) vs. Nyack (14-8, 10-3 CACC)
The first game of Saturday afternoon's doubleheader features two very hot CACC squads vying for playoff spots in their respective divisions. Nyack College is riding a five-game win streak and currently stands atop the CACC North Division with a conference mark of 10-3. The Warriors most recently completed the season sweep of their division rival Bloomfield College with a 74-72 victory at home Thurs. night. They are led by three scorers that average double-figures: junior forward Victoria Sweet (13.3 ppg, 10.1 rpg), senior guard Jasmine Minter (11.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and senior guard Kelsy McIntosh (10.6 ppg).
Meanwhile, the Lightning women are on fire. They are currently riding a four-game win-streak and have won 11 of their last 13 games. After disposing of CACC South Division rivals USP and Wilmington in its last two games, GBC (12-9, 8-5 CACC) now stands alone at third place in the standings and just one game back of Philadelphia University.
During this four-game win streak, which started back on Jan. 30 with an impressive upset win over then CACC North Division best, Bloomfield College, freshman forward Devonne Richardson has emerged as a star for head coach Jen Carleton's young squad. She has averaged 17.8 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.75 assists and 1.4 steals per-game over these last four games. She was most impressive in the Lightning's latest conquest over their intra-city rival Wilmington on the road Tues. night. She recorded a season-high 25 points and 15 rebounds to lead her team to a breath-taking, 70-67 double-overtime victory as GBC earned its first win at the Pratt Center since Jan. 22, 2007 and first season-sweep of Wilmington since the 2006-07 season.
Redshirt-sophomore guard and co-captain Jacinda Jones continues to be a leader on the court as well, averaging a team-best 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds 2.0 assists, 2.25 steals and 1.25 blocks per game. She was the catalyst in the first two games of this four-game streak, leading the Lightning with 24 against Bloomfield (18 coming in the second half) and 20 against Chestnut Hill. Jones also scored 15 points against Wilmington on Tues. night and played a pivotal role in helping GBC extend the game to overtime after trailing for much of the second half.
Also coming on strong for the Lightning as they make a push for their first CACC playoff bid since the 2006-07 season is junior forward Arielle Alford. Another of the team's co-captains, Alford was involved in a severe car accident this past summer in which she suffered a serious foot injury, but with a lot of work and rehab, was back in action five games into the season for the Philadelphia contest. She saw just three minutes in that game and very limited playing time the next two games, but by Dec. 29 when GBC hosted Bloomsburg University, Alford was back in the Lightning starting lineup and has been a fixture there ever since. She is coming off her most productive outing of the season on Tues. night against Wilmington in which she contributed seven points, five blocks, four steals and eight rebounds.
Men's Game: GBC (15-6, 9-3 CACC) vs. Nyack College (12-12, 7-6 CACC)
Following the women's game, the Lightning men will clash with the Warriors at approximately 3 p.m. Both of these teams have stumbled of late, with GBC losing two of its last three and Nyack dropping three of its last four. The Lightning most recently suffered a heartbreaking, 68-67 loss at the hands of their intra-city rival Wilmington University on Tues. night at the Pratt Center. Nyack has lost its last two games – an 87-75 loss at Concordia and an 85-79 loss at home to Bloomfield.
Head coach Chuck Hammond's squad has yet to lose back-to-back games this season as they are 5-0 when following a loss. The Lightning hope that trend will continue as they look to regain their form after three straight lackluster performances and try to take back the top spot in the CACC South from Philadelphia University after slipping to No. 2.
A point of emphasis for Hammond and the Lightning this Saturday will be defending against Nyack's three-point shooting attack. The Warriors lead the league in three-point field goal percentage, shooting .403 percent from behind the arc while making a league-leading 157 treys. GBC allowed a string of three-point field goals late in the game that led to an 82-70 letdown against Chestnut Hill, then let USP hit an opponent season-high eight treys as it watched its 20-point lead dissipate to just three before putting the clamps on a victory late in the game. It didn't get any better against Wilmington either, as GBC let the Wildcats connect on 58 percent (7-for-12) from three-point land. The Lightning have slipped to No. 5 in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (.304).
Rebounding continues to be paramount to the Lightning's success as well. Wilmington became just the fourth GBC opponent to outrebound the Lightning (25-24), and GBC fell to 0-4 in those games. The Lightning are second in rebounding margin at +5.6 and are the top defensive rebounding team in the league. They feature the league's fourth-leading rebounder in junior forward Terrence Parkes (9.5 rpg).
Senior guard Kyle White continues to carry much of the scoring load, as he ranks third in the CACC in points per-game, averaging just a shade above 22. He manages this while also ranking No. 13 in the league in field-goal percentage (.513) and second in assists (4.65 per-game).
These two teams are two of the better offensive teams in the league. GBC ranks fourth in scoring offense at 76.3 ppg, with Nyack right behind at No. 5 with 73.7 ppg. The Lightning also rank No. 1 in free-throw shooting (.747) and No. 2 in field-goal shooting (.478) while Nyack ranks fourth and fifth, respectively.
GBC features the individual league leader in field goal percentage in senior forward Troy Esquilin (.654), and three of the top-10 free-throw shooting leaders in junior point guard Azeez Ellegood (No. 5, .817), junior guard Sam McDuffie (No. 9, .755) and White, who is tied with McDuffie.
