Boxscore
RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Goldey-Beacom College men's basketball team overcame a poor offensive start and scored a season-high 95 points as the visiting Lightning topped Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference foe Felician College, 95-85 in a barnburner at Job Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
With the win, GBC improved to 17-6 overall and 11-3 in CACC play, while Felician, of the CACC North Division, fell to 19-6 overall and 12-4 in league play. The Lightning's 17 wins this season ties the school record for wins in a season, a mark set by the 1999-2000 team that went 17-17 and reached the CACC semifinals in its first year as a member of the conference. Also, their 11 conference wins has equaled a mark set in the 2006-07 season that saw GBC earn an ECAC Championship and CACC quarterfinal appearance.
Junior point guard Azeez Ellegood tied his season-high of 22 points and dished out a team-high five assists, junior forward Terrence Parkes tallied 21, and junior guard Sam McDuffie recorded 18 points to lead the Lightning to their third consecutive series victory over Felician. The Lightning's 95 points were the most since Nov. 22, 2008 when they put up 110 in a lopsided win over Penn State Abington.
For the Falcons, Antoine Obery recorded game-highs of 27 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Devon Young and Suquan Gary each added 21 points, apiece.
Senior guard Kyle White inched closer to 1,000 points in his GBC career with a nine-point effort to go with eight rebounds and four assists. He now has 960 points for his career with three games remaining in the regular season.
It was all Falcons in the early-going, as Felician opened the game on an 11-0 run that saw GBC unable to score until almost five minutes into the action. McDuffie put the Lightning on the board with two free-throws at the 15:25 mark, but the host Falcons continued to blitz the seemingly shell-shocked Lightning and extended their lead to 17-3 before GBC head coach Chuck Hammond called a timeout to settle his team down at the 13:26 mark.
GBC began to trade baskets with FC over the next several minutes, but could not get the stops to cut into the Falcon lead as FC remained ahead by 14 (33-19). Finally, a three-point field goal by sophomore forward Phillip Brooks at the 6:28 mark sparked a 14-0 Lightning surge over a span of just 2:08, and suddenly, GBC had evened the score at 33 with 4:43 left in the first half. Both McDuffie and Ellegood converted conventional three-point plays to lead GBC on its inspired comeback.
Felician's Andrew August (11 points) stopped the bleeding for FC with a jumper at the 3:40 mark. Ryan Mosely added a free-throw almost a minute later to give the Falcons a three-point lead, 36-33 with three minutes left in the first half. But Parkes answered for GBC with six consecutive points to put the Lightning up 39-37.
Obery then sent the game to its third tie (39-39) with a layup for FC with 2:14 left in the half, but White broke the tie with a 1-of-2 trip at the free-throw line at 1:34. No one would score for the remainder of the period as GBC took a 40-39 lead into halftime.
Gary opened the scoring in the second half with a jumper not 15 seconds into the action to give FC a 41-40 advantage, but it would be the Falcons' last lead of the game. On the ensuing possession, Ellegood connected on the first of his five three-point field goals of the second frame after not taking any shots from long-range in the first half. August's layup tied the score, 43-43 at 18:57, but senior forward Troy Esquilin's layup gave the Lightning a 45-43 advantage and they would never trail again.
Parkes added a jumper at 17:54 to give GBC a 47-43 advantage, and although FC closed to within two five times during the second half, the Lightning never allowed the Falcons to tie the score or take a lead the rest of the game.
With just a 49-47 lead at the 16:30 mark, the Lightning began to pull away with a 7-0 run to take a nine-point cushion, 56-47. Later the Lightning would still lead by nine, 72-63, but it was then they began to sputter. The Lightning allowed FC to go on a 9-2 run to cut GBC's lead to two, 74-72.
But Ellegood, the CACC leader in three-point field goal shooting percentage, stepped up for the Lightning with a three-point field goal at 5:51, and again at 4:41 after Obery knocked down a trey to slice GBC's lead to two once more. The second of those back-to-back Ellegood three-pointers put GBC up 80-75.
Obery continued to carry the team on his back with two free-throws to make it a three-point game, but a 9-0 Lightning run that included six points by McDuffie and the fifth and final three-point field goal of the second half for Ellegood finally gave GBC a comfortable 89-77 lead with 1:35 left to play.
The Lightning would lead by as many as 15 (95-80) before Felician's Young would score the last five points of the contest to give the game its 95-85 final score.
Both teams shot extremely well from the floor, but it was GBC that held a 62-percent to 57-percent advantage. The Lightning also outshot the Falcons 76 percent to 62 percent at the foul line, and held a 31-24 rebounding advantage. Felician was plagued by 4-for-10 free-throw shooting in the first half, as the Falcons squandered multiple 14-point leads.
GBC is back in action on Tues. night at 6 p.m. as the Lightning head into the Gallagher Athletic Center on the campus of Philadelphia University in the highly-anticipated rematch of the CACC South Division's No. 1 vs. 2. The Rams (22-6, 14-1 CACC) are currently the top team in the standings, but it was No. 2 GBC who was victorious, 68-55 in the first meeting between these two schools back on Dec. 8.
Philadelphia University head coach Herb Magee, former mentor to current GBC head coach Chuck Hammond who served as an assistant for Magee at PU, will attempt to surpass legendary NCAA Division I coach Bobby Knight with his 903rd victory.
