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PHILADELPHIA – The Goldey-Beacom College men's basketball team led 28-23 at halftime, but the Lightning struggled to make shots in the second half as they lost on the road to University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, 58-54 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference play at the Bobby Morgan Arena Thurs. night.
The Lightning, who still hold down first-place in the CACC South, fell to 13-8 overall and 8-3 in league play while the Devils improved to 9-8 overall and 5-6 in the CACC. The Devils ended the Lightning's four-game win-streak while ending their own three-game skid and avenging a 78-65 loss to GBC at the Jones Center back on Jan. 6.
Senior forward Terrence Parkes recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds while senior swingman Sam McDuffie pitched in 11 points and three steals in 31 minutes of action off the bench. Senior point guard Azeez Ellegood poured in nine points and dished out a team-high four assists.
Head coach Chuck Hammond also saw significant contributions from his bench as Lightning reserves outscored the Devils 23-2 in bench points. Junior forward Phillip Brooks knocked down 2-of-3 from behind-the-arc and freshman guard A.J. Picard also buried a three for the Lightning in a losing effort.
GBC was outscored 34-12 in the paint and out-rebounded 51-32 for the night as Devils big men Adewale Adefemi and Myer Messinger had a field day inside. Adefemi led all scorers with 20 points (7-of-13 FG), pulled down 13 rebounds and recorded three steals and two blocks while Messinger tallied 19 points (6-of-12 FG, 7-of-8 FT) and 10 rebounds.
A very competitive game all the way through, the largest lead of the game was just nine as these two South Division foes collided for three ties and eight lead changes.
The Devils took control early as they possessed the largest lead of the game by either team (14-5) on an Adefemi layup nearly eight minutes into the action. But the Lightning struck back with a 17-5 jolt over the last 7:52 of the half to turn an 18-11 deficit into a 28-23 advantage heading into halftime.
Approaching the 16-minute mark, Goldey-Beacom had extended its lead to 34-28 when USciences went on a 9-2 spurt and took its first lead of the second-half, 37-36 with 12:28 remaining. Then, with both teams deadlocked at 40, the Devils went on an 8-3 run capped by yet another Adefemi layup to give USciences a 48-43 lead at 7:06.
Back came the Lightning as Ellegood scored the last four of eight straight GBC points to put his team in front, 51-48 with 5:27 to go. But USciences would have the last run on this night.
First, an Adefemi inside score brought the Devils within a point, and then Tyrone Mann-Barnes rattled home a step-back three-pointer (his only one in six attempts) with 1:25 on the clock to put USciences in the driver's seat up 53-51. Following a defensive stop, Messinger was fouled with 42 seconds left and made both free-throws to make it a two-possession game, 55-51.
GBC did not go away easily though as senior guard Jon Crawford (six points) canned a three-pointer from the left-corner to bring his team within 55-54 with just 35 seconds showing on the clock. Messinger split a pait of free-throws four seconds later, and the Lightning had a chance to tie or win the game with one last possession.
The Lightning were not able to get a shot off though as Adefemi came up with a timely steal which resulted in a Messinger layup to end the scoring for the night and give USciences a 58-54 win.
Both teams struggled offensively, producing lackluster overall shooting (USP 39-percent, GBC 31-percent), three-point shooting (USP 1-of-9, GBC 6-of-22) and foul shooting (USP 17-of-31, GBC 12-of-18) numbers and underwhelming assist-to-turnover ratios (USP 9/18 to GBC 8/12).
This game marked the 35th all-time meeting between these two programs dating back to 1956. Goldey-Beacom's five-game winning streak in the series came to an end with a loss tonight.
The Lightning will look to bounce back when they return home to the Joseph West Jones Center for a crossover matchup with the CACC North's Post University. GBC will look to extend its school-record eight-game home win-streak and improve to 10-2 at home this season.
