Goldey-Beacom rallied from down 22 points in the first half to take the lead, but ultimately fell short in a 77-73 loss to Saint Thomas Aquinas at the Jones Center in Wilmington, DE.
Down 37-15 in the opening half, the Lightning ended the period on a 22-4 run over the final 7:19 to only trail 41-37 at the break. Sophomore Juran Ligonde (Boston, MA) netted six points in that time for GBC, which shot 9-of-15 in that frame with STAC hitting just 2-of-13.
It was an 8-0 run early in the second half that gave the Lightning a 50-47 lead with 14:11 left and the home crowd making its presence felt. Freshman Nazim Derry (Atlantic City, NJ) scored all the points in that time, ending it on a 3-pointer.
Freshman Jesiah West (Elizabeth, NJ) canned two free throws with 2:43 left to bring Goldey-Beacom within 70-68. Both teams had their chances to grab momentum, but the Spartans did so with 1:51 remaining when Osbel Caraballo hit twice from the line.
The Lightning could not cash in on the other end and Louis Griffith put things out of reach for the Spartans, hitting two free throws with 30 seconds left.
Junior Marcellus Livingston (Linden, NJ) did all he could for the Lightning (0-3), scoring 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers in just 28 minutes. West had 15 points and eight rebounds, Ligonde amassed 12 and eight with Derry adding 11 points for GBC, which shot 47 percent (28-of-60) from the field.
Livingston now stands at 807 career points, moving into 16th place in team history.
Sekou Cisse scored 18 points, Caraballo had 16 and 11 rebounds with Griffith and Demetre Roberts adding 14 points apiece for the Spartans (3-0), who shot 42 percent (27-of-64) from the field and 17-for-21 from the foul line.
Goldey-Beacom is home Saturday against Franklin Pierce as part of the College's Legacy Weekend. Game time is at 2:00 pm, which follows the volleyball team's 11:00 am match against Concordia (NY).
