PHILADELPHIA – Head coach Chuck Hammond and the Goldey-Beacom College men's basketball team will look to complete the second straight season sweep of Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division foe Holy Family when the Lightning take on the Tigers in Philadelphia Thurs. night at 8 p.m.
Coming into Thurs. night's game, the Lightning own an overall record of 9-6 and a 5-1 mark in CACC play, good for first place in the South Division. Holy Family sits in last place with a record of 3-12 (1-4 CACC).
The Lightning have won their last three games by an average margin of 14.0 points per-game. They have also won eight of their last nine games. Meanwhile, Holy Family has lost nine of its last 10, including a 77-64 defeat at home against Dominican in the Tigers' last outing on Sat. afternoon.
Fans at Holy Family's Campus Center will see three of the league's top-six scorers in action Thurs. night in GBC's senior forward Terrence Parkes (3rd, 19.7 ppg) and senior swingman Sam McDuffie (6th, 16.4 ppg) and HFU's junior guard Tim Smith (4th, 18.1 ppg). Parkes and Smith also rank 1st and 7th, respectively, in rebounding.
GBC has won the last four meetings in the series dating back to a 70-56 conference quarterfinal victory back on Mar. 3, 2009. The Lightning won 79-70 on the strength of 26 points by senior swingman Sam McDuffie when these two schools last met on Dec. 16, 2010.
The last meeting, which started nearly an hour late due to slippery roads in the Wilmington area, featured eight ties, 10 lead changes and 81 combined points in just the first half alone. Holy Family's first-year head coach John O'Connor, with four freshmen in his starting five, had the Tigers out to a 41-40 lead at intermission.
Momentum continued to stay with HFU out of the break as the Tigers opened the second half with an 11-2 run to take a 52-42 lead. Guard Tim Smith, who had led Holy Family with 12 first-half points, continued to be the Tigers' hot hand as his fall-away jumper in the lane with 11:04 kept it a 61-52 HFU lead.
Over the next 10:03, however, the Lightning defense kicked it into high-gear as Holy Family made just one of its next 12 attempts. Meanwhile, the Lightning heated up, erasing the nine-point deficit and opening up a game-high, 77-63 cushion with just over a minute to play. Senior forward Terrence Parkes initiated the surge with a three-point field goal. He finished with a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Free-throw shooting was a big factor the last time these two played, as the Lightning, even with a poor 61.5 shooting percentage, made out like bandits at the stripe with 24 made free-throws to the Tigers' nine. Holy Family was even worse at the line, making just 56.3 percent of its attempts. Also, the Lightning did a much better job distributing the basketball as they combined for 18 assists (led by senior point guard Azeez Ellegood's five) to just nine turnovers. Holy Family had just 11 assists and 12 turnovers.
