Boxscore
PHILADELPHIA – For the second straight game, the Goldey-Beacom College men's basketball team dug itself a 14-0 hole, but this time could not climb its way out as the visiting Lightning fell prey to Philadelphia University head coach Herb Magee's NCAA record-breaking 903rd career victory Tues. night in front of a sell-out crowd at the Gallagher Center.
GBC head coach Chuck Hammond, who was with Magee for win No. 600 as a student manager and No. 700 as an assistant coach, said he would have preferred the win, but was happy for his mentor.
“Herb Magee is much more than a basketball coach to me,” Hammond said. “His record speaks for itself, but he does it the right way.”
The loss drops the Lightning to 17-7 overall and 11-4 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and eliminates any chance of GBC taking back the No. 1 seed in the CACC playoffs from Philadelphia. Still, GBC has already locked up a No. 2 seed and will be hosting a quarterfinal game on Mon., Mar. 1.
Meanwhile, PU won its 13th straight game and improved to 22-6 overall and 14-1 in conference play. The Rams' lone conference loss came in the first meeting with GBC at the Jones Center back on Dec. 8 when the Lightning were victorious, 68-55. PU has now clinched the No. 1 seed out of the South Division for the conference playoffs.
The Lightning were led by junior guard Sam McDuffie who tallied 22 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while junior point guard Azeez Ellegood recorded 16 points and senior guard Kyle White posted his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. White is now just 25 points away from 1,000 for his career.
Philadelphia's Russel Frederick was a force for the Rams as he recorded game-highs of 24 points, seven assists and four blocks. He was assisted by Marcus Lemon (13 points, three rebounds), Malcolm Ingram (12 points, nine rebounds) and Jim Connolly (10 points, four rebounds, two blocks).
The Rams, who came into the game leading the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio, totaled 16 assists to just three turnovers all night. The Lightning had nine assists to just eight turnovers, but five of those eight miscues came in the first six minutes of the game which enabled an already fired-up Rams team to establish momentum early and keep the crowd on its feet the whole game.
The division rivals were even in rebounding with 35 boards apiece, but PU held a 48-percent to 41-percent shooting advantage and outscored GBC 34-28 in the paint.
The Lightning missed its first four shots and turned the ball over twice as Hammond used two timeouts to try to settle his team down as the Rams opened up a 14-0 lead to start the game in a little over four minutes of action.
McDuffie put GBC on the board at the 15:32 mark with a three off an assist by Ellegood, but the Lightning could not muster another comeback like the one they used on the road this past Sat. to beat Felician College, 95-85. Two layups by Marcus Lemon padded the Rams' lead back to 18-3 at the 13:25 mark.
GBC did manage to cut into that 15-point Ram lead with a 14-3 run that included four consecutive Lightning layups (two by McDuffie), and an and-one layup by junior Jon Crawford (six points, two rebounds). Later, a 1-of-2 trip at the line by Crawford completed the run and brought GBC within four, 21-17.
The Rams would take back control with a 7-0 run, highlighted by a conventional three-point play by Frederick to give his team a 28-17 lead at 5:56. GBC again tried to counter with four consecutive points, including a conventional three-point play by White to cut the lead back down to seven at 4:38, but the Rams came right back with a 10-0 run and closed out the half on a 12-3 run to take a commanding 40-24 lead into the break.
The second half saw the Lightning shoot much better from the field (48-percent to 33-percent) than they did in the first half, but it was too little too late. A layup by McDuffie at the 3:32 mark brought GBC within seven (66-59), but that would be as close as the Lightning would get in the closing frame. A three-pointer by Lemon at 2:37 sent the crowd in a roar, and the Rams ran away with the win from there.
Trailing 76-65, the Lightning retreated after Connolly gathered the defensive rebound after a missed Lightning three-point attempt, and as time expired, the crowd rushed the court to celebrate Magee's historical 903rd victory.
GBC is back in action on Thurs. night when they visit CACC foe Post University for an 8 p.m. tipoff.
