In one of the most entertaining games of the year, Goldey-Beacom nearly rallied from down 12 points in the second half for a tough 83-82 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference loss to Post at the Jones Center in Wilmington, DE.
The Lightning were in a 60-48 hole with 15:17 left before using a 29-19 run over 12 1/2 minutes, closing to 79-77 with 2:37 left. Junior Juran Ligonde (Boston, MA) again was a force in the paint, scoring eight points with Mekhi Collins (Medford, MA) and fellow sophomore Nazim Derry (Atlantic City, NJ) adding seven apiece.
Isaiah Holmes made a layup with 2:12 that gave the Eagles an 81-77 lead before Ligonde's layup with 1:39 to go again created a two-point deficit.
Devonte McCall canned two free throws to give Post an 83-79 cushion with 1:18 to play and his team got the ball back after GBC missed a shot. But McCall lost the ball with 50 seconds remaining and the Lightning had a chance.
Derry made the most of that opportunity, getting a driving layup as he was fouled with 44 seconds to go for an 83-81 contest. He missed the free throw and Post now had an opportunity to ice the game.
However, Holmes could not convert on a short jumper and the ball went out of bounds in the Lightning's favor. GBC then got it to halfcourt and called timeout with 16 seconds to go.
Goldey-Beacom ran a play, but the ball was knocked out by Post before the home side had a chance to get off a shot with 2.6 seconds left. Collins got the inbounds pass and was fouled with 1.5 seconds to go looking for the tie.
Collins missed the first free throw and made the second for a one-point game. Post got the ball inbounded to Holmes and he was fouled with 0.2 seconds left before missing the front end of a 1-and-1 for the final.
Ligonde scored 25 points, two off his career high, on 9-of-17 shooting with nine rebounds. Derry, a seven-time honoree this season to the CACC Weekly Honor Roll, netted 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting with Collins getting 19 points.
Derry now has 799 career points, moving into 17th place on the school's career list. His 485 points this season places him sixth in team annals, his 169 field goals has him tied for seventh and his 124 career 3-pointers puts him tied for seventh. Derry extended his own single-season school record to 88 three-pointers.
McCall scored 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, Holmes and David Jasson netted 13 apiece with Tyler Small pouring in 11 for the Eagles (17-7, 13-1 CACC).
The loss drops Goldey-Beacom (12-12, 8-7) one game behind Chestnut Hill (9-6) for second place in the CACC South Division with three games left. The top two teams in each of the two divisions host a quarterfinal game in the conference tournament and Chestnut Hill holds the tiebreaker based on winning both meetings this season.
Goldey-Beacom already has clinched its fifth straight trip to the CACC Tournament, one short of the school record set from 2007-12.
Goldey-Beacom is home Monday against Nyack for a make-up contest. Game time is at 7:30 pm.
