Georgia College & State University mens’ basketball (6-11, 2-6 PBC) nabbed a win Jan. 18 over No. 17 Young Harris College (14-3, 5-3 PBC), 84-77 , for its first home win and first conference win of the 2022-23 season.
This marked the first time since Jan. 31, 2009, that the Bobcats beat a nationally ranked top-20 team. During the 2008-09 season Augusta University, formerly known as Augusta State, owned the No. 7 national spot and GCSU took the 79-76 win.
Last season, the Bobcats took down No. 25 Miles College on Dec. 3, 2021, which was the last time GCSU had taken a win from a nationally ranked opponent.
Suwanee native Brendan Rigsbee delivered the first blow of the game with a two-point jump shot to give the Bobcats the first lead of the game. GCSU continued to deliver blows to the Mountain Lion defense as the Bobcats went into the half leading YHC 38-34.
Both offenses came out of the half scoring more than 40 points apiece. YHC delivered the first two punches of the second half and took their first lead of the contest.
Through the second half of play, the lead went back and forth until Zyair Greene swished a threepoint bucket to put the Bobcats back on top by a single point.
Once GCSU reclaimed the lead they never gave it up, which led to 46 second-half points and a 7-point margin of victory.
Greene was named the Peach Belt Conference Mens’ Basketball Player of the Week for his impressive performance. He iced 32 points in the win for the Bobcats, good for his career high. The last GCSU player to score more than 30 points in a contest was Jordan Thomas, who broke the schools scoring record.
Greene was a sharpshooter in the contest, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line and 6-for-8 from threepoint range. Rigsbee also had a stellar game for the Bobcats as he also set his career-high-banking 23 points in the contest.
Rigsbee was the squad’s second leading scorer, going 8-for-13 from field goal range and a perfect 6-for-6 from the stripe.
Richard Crawford III rounded out the doubledigit scoring with 10 points. He went 100% from field goal range on the night.
Greene had an impressive night, not only leading the team in scoring but in rebounding as well nabbing six. The post players Austin Sloan and Chapin Rierson were the second-leading rebounders with five apiece. Rigsbee had a stellar night on defense with four steals and four blocked shots, both of which led the team.
The Bobcats will play next at the Centennial Center against Columbus State University at 3:30 p.m. Live stats and broadcast links will be available at GCBobcats.com.