NEW CASTLE, Del. – The Goldey-Beacom College men's basketball team, looking to bounce back from a loss at Holy Family last week, will visit its crosstown rival, Wilmington University at 8 p.m., Wed. night for a pivotal Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest at the Pratt Center.
The Lightning (9-7, 5-2 CACC) are just a game ahead of the Wildcats (6-9, 4-3 CACC) for second-place in the South Division standings heading into Wed. night's game. GBC had won three straight and eight of its last nine games before a frustrating, 62-51 loss at last-place Holy Family its last time out this past Thurs. night.
Meanwhile, Wilmington took care of the other last-place team in the conference, Nyack, by a score of 68-56 in its most recent game this past Sat. The Wildcats ended a five-game losing streak on their home floor courtesy of a game-high 19 points by Corye Payton. A 6-foot-4 junior forward, Payton is the team's leading scorer with a 13.1 points per-game average.
Dating back to the 2002-03 season, the Lightning are 15-3 in this series that pits the only two Division II athletic programs in the state of Delaware against each other in a battle for in-state bragging rights. Under head coach Chuck Hammond, GBC is 14-2.
The last time these two met at the Pratt Center, the Lightning let a 10-point lead slip away in the final nine minutes of regulation, as six turnovers, including three in the final two-and-a-half minutes, proved costly in a bitter, 68-67 defeat back on Feb. 9, 2010.
Since then, Goldey-Beacom has won the last two meetings, both at the Jones Center. The first was a thrilling 79-71 win in last season's CACC quarterfinals and the next was an 89-60 drubbing this season on Dec. 7.
Heading into that Dec. 7 showdown at the Jones Center, the Lightning were struggling at 1-5 and coming off their worst loss of the season to begin conference play at Philadelphia U. Hammond made a surprise move of inserting sophomore forward Lawrence Livingston into the starting lineup for that game, and the Dover, Del. native rewarded him with five blocks and an overall superb defensive effort. Livingston has started every game since that night, and the Lightning are 8-2 in that stretch.
The last meeting between these two schools also showcased the emergence of senior Jon Crawford, as the 6-foot-4 guard led the Lightning with career-highs of 18 points and seven assists. Crawford dazzled the Jones Center crowd that night with an alley-oop dunk off a beautiful feed from senior point guard Azeez Ellegood.
Crawford also neutralized the Wildcats' leading scorer at the time, Isiah Mason, as he held Mason scoreless in 27 minutes of action. Mason came into that first meeting of the season averaging 14.3 points per-game, and is now down to 10.3 per-contest. Payton had little impact for Wilmington in this game either, as he only managed five points on 2-of-5 from the field and had zero rebounds.
Freshman guard Herbert Dennis, who led all Wildcat scorers with 17 against GBC on Dec. 7, is currently second on the team in scoring at 10.7 points per-game. He also ranks ninth in the league in assists with 3.73 per-game.
