Georgia College & State University (GCSU) basketball took on Georgia Southwestern on Saturday, with the women’s team taking down the Hurricanes 65-58, before the GCSU men fell 90-87 in overtime.
The Bobcats women kicked off the action in front of a packed Homecoming crowd and forced 10 turnovers in the first half. These included three travel calls that helped to negate a dominant half beneath the basket for Georgia Southwestern, as the Lady ‘Canes scored 18 of their 27 points from inside the paint.
Current Peach Belt Conference (PBC) leading rebounder Jada Warren secured eight rebounds for GCSU in the first half.
A late 7-0 run helped the Bobcat women take a seven-point lead into halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Detavia Salter fouled out after scoring 8 points for Georgia Southwestern, and despite a spirited dispute from GS head coach Missy Tibber, the referees confirmed the call. Still, despite losing a big presence up the middle, Georgia Southwestern finished the third quarter down by only two points.
The Bobcats opened the final quarter with back-toback three-pointers from Nylah Nuri and Miracle Parker, and the Lady Bobcats repeatedly found clutch buckets from that point on to secure the win.
The Bobcats largely neutralized Georgia Southwestern’s Destiny Garrett and Ndidiamaka Ndukwe, the PBC’s current leading scorers.
GCSU head coach Ross Jolly said he was pleased with how his team dealt with the Georgia Southwestern stars.
“Georgia Southwestern has, probably, the player of the year. I was very happy with how we defended her,” Jolly said. “They have the conference’s two leading scorers, and we held them both below their averages.”
Parker and Hannah Cail led GCSU with 14 points each, while Warren, GCSU’s all-time leading rebounder, ended the game with 16 boards. The Bobcats improved to 16-10 and 9-7 in PBC play.
Later in the evening, the GCSU men took their shot at Georgia Southwestern.
The Bobcats struggled early as Georgia Southwestern took the lead off a 9-2 run. GCSU’s Zyair Greene started 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, but beyond his efforts the Bobcats went 0-6 from three-point range in the first half.
“Obviously, slow start offensively,” GCSU head coach Ryan Aquino said.
“That’s on me for not getting the guys ready to play.”
The Bobcats turned it around in the second half, however. Sophomore Oscar Lynch had a career day, notching a doubledouble with 13 rebounds 18 and points that included burying three crucial three-pointers in the half. A late 9-1 GCSU run helped the Bobcats force overtime.
Georgia Southwestern, however, made nine free throws and buried two big threes in overtime to build a lead the Bobcats were unable to overcome.
Greene, the PBC’s thirdleading scorer, paced all scorers with 28 points on the night.
Saturday marked the seventh loss this season by five or fewer points for GCSU and represented the fourth overtime loss for the team.
Both teams were played again Tuesday night at home, where the GCSU women fell 74-55 to Augusta, and the men’s Bobcats lost 89-79 to the Jaguars.
GCSU basketball will next be in action March 2 at Columbus State in the annual PBC tournament, with pairings yet to be established.