PIKE CREEK, Del. - Sophomore A.J. Picard's NBA-range three-pointer as the shot clock expired gave the Lightning a 71-68 lead with nine seconds left in regulation, and the Goldey-Beacom College men's basketball team hung on to beat Holy Family, 72-71 in a thrilling Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference season-opener for both teams at the Joseph West Jones Center on Sat. afternoon.

With the score tied at 68-apiece, the Lightning (2-4, 1-0 CACC) inbounded the ball with 32 seconds left on the game clock and 23 on the shot clock. Graduate student point guard Jordan Brooks pushed the ball up the floor and found freshman guard Marcus Porter at the elbow. Porter decided in mid-air to pass up a shot and toss it back to Brooks. Not knowing where to go with the ball and the shot clock winding down, Brooks passed to an open Picard standing three feet behind the three-point line, and Picard alertly stepped up and hoisted a three-point bomb just in the nick of time and buried it as the horn sounded to put GBC up by three. 

GBC head coach Chuck Hammond elected to foul rather than risk a HFU three-point shot to send the game to overtime, and the strategy paid off as Brooks' 1-of-2 trip at the line with five seconds left in regulation was enough to hold off the Tigers' 3-of-4 shooting at the line in the final six seconds, and the Lightning prevailed thanks to that one point.

The win ended a three-game losing skid for Goldey-Beacom while extending Holy Family's losing streak to three games and giving first-year HFU coach R.C. Kehoe a heartbreaking defeat in his CACC debut. After winning the first three games of the season, including a victory over PSAC power Clarion in their opener, Kehoe and the Tigers are now 3-3.

Picard had 19 points for the day on 7-of-13 shooting from the field (4-of-9 from behind-the-arc) along with a game-high seven assists and five rebounds. Meanwhile, Porter finished with a season-high and game-high of 29 points (14-of-24 FG), eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Also, freshman forward Trey Clinton posted the first double-double of his career with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds as he replaced injured senior forward Tariq Uqdah in the starting lineup.

The Lightning were again very efficient offensively with 18 assists to nine turnovers and shot 49-percent (31-of-63) from the field for the game, including a red-hot 55-percent (17-of-31) in the second half. HFU had just nine assists and 14 turnovers, and shot poorly in the second half (33-percent, 12-of-36) after makng 52-percent (12-of-23) in the first frame.  

Three of the Tigers' interior players, Rickie Crews (17 points, eight rebounds), Richard Council (14 points, six rebounds) and reserve Angel Ayala (11 points, 11 rebounds), scored in double-figures, and starting guard Khiry Hankins, who came in averaging nearly 20 points per-game, managed just 10 today on 3-of-11 shooting from the field.

Holy Family dominated play in the first 10 minutes of action, going up 19-8 on a three-pointer by the 6-foot-9 center, Crews, as it seemed everything was going the visitors' way early on. But suddenly the Lightning reeled off nine straight points, which included two Porter layups and a Picard three, to cut the deficit to two at the 7:14 mark. Still trailing by two as the five-minute mark approached, the Lightning allowed the Tigers on a 5-0 run, culminating in an and-one layup by Council to put HFU up 28-21. The Tigers led 30-25 with three minutes left in the half when the Lightning used a 5-0 sput to tie the game on junior forward Lawrence Livingston's layup right at the two-minute mark.The two teams then traded buckets and went into halftime tied at 32-apiece.

In the second half it was the Lightning who got off to the hot start, as Picard knocked down a three in the first Lightning possession to set the tone for GBC early on. After HFU's Alberto Munoz answered with a three to knot the score at 35, Brooks and Picard made back-to-back three-pointers, Livingston shook the Jones Center with a one-handed slam in front of a Tiger defender, and Porter connected on a jumper all during a 10-0 Lightning surge over the course of nearly three minutes, and the hosts led, 45-35. After a Tiger timeout, GBC scored seven of the next nine points to go up 56-38 thanks to what amounted to a 21-3 run.

But with their largest lead of the game and 12:44 remaining in regulation, the Lightning allowed HFU to come back in a hurry. In a little over three minutes, the Tigers had cut GBC's lead to seven thanks, in part, to three-pointers by Eric Fleming and Munoz. Fleming would make another trey at the 6:24 mark to bring HFU within four, but two consecutive buckets by Porter pushed the Lightning lead back to eight, 62-54.

After a layup by Picard at exactly the three-minute mark, the Lightning led 66-57, but the Tigers scored 11 of the next 13 points to force a 68-68 tie, only the fourth tie of the game, with 48 seconds remaining in regulation. But a  timeout call by Hammond then set up the late-game heroics of Picard, and the Lightning hung on to win, 72-71.

Next up for GBC is a rematch of last year's CACC quarterfinals game versus University of the Sciences on Tues., Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. in the Joseph West Jones Center.