Bobcat men drop sixth straight
Jan. 16—Flagler College's Malik Bryant shot 9-for-13 from the floor in a 26-point performance to lead the Saints past Georgia College & State University 80-69 in a Peach Belt men's basketball contest at The Centennial Center. For the host Bobcats and head coach Ryan Aquino, it was the sixth-straight loss in the 2023-24 season. That was the same number of games the GCSU men won in a row to begin the current campaign, so the Bobcats now stand at 7-7 overall.
Speared by a 9-for-11 performance at the foul line, Richard Crawford III led the Bobcats in scoring Saturday with 17 points. Center Brady Spence, the graduate transfer from The Citadel, registered a double-double for Aquino scoring 16 points to go with 10 rebounds. Ten points apiece came from starting guard Brendan Rigsbee and reserve guard Ian Davis.
It was Aquino's bench that carried the Bobcats through a 13-13 tie to begin Saturday's action. A.J. James checked in after a timeout and nailed his first attempt, which was good for 3. Davis did the same. Spence, who was in the starting lineup, began to get active on the offensive end with consecutive baskets. With just six minutes to go in the half, things were still even at 23-all.
That, however, is when Flagler went on what would be the game-deciding roll with nine in a row. One basket came after an offensive foul called on the Bobcats and another after a turnover.
It had been a quiet half for Rigsbee, the team's leading scorer at 16.5 per game and who had a career-best 30 the last time he was on the The Centennial Center court. But he and Spence produced consecutive baskets to get the Bobcats within seven at 34-27 with 2:30 on the clock.
But by using a multiple-chance score, the Saints stayed in front by seven, 38-31, at the break.
Much like in the previous weekend's loss to USC-Aiken, GSCU could make runs to get within a basket of Flagler in the second half, but could never find a go-ahead score. Austin Sloan's baseline dunk capped what was a 10-0 run that began late in the first half. That brought the home team within a point, 38-37.
Flagler, though, would make seven 3-pointers in the second half to just one by the Bobcats. With three of those treys, the Saints were back ahead by double figures, 55-43, with 13:02 to play. Bryant had six 3-pointers in the game, and that long-range stroke led to the biggest advantage for his club, 15, at 64-49.
GCSU will be looking to end the losing skid and get its first PBC win of 2024 Wednesday when it faces South Carolina-Beaufort at 7:30 p.m.
