Spence, 'Cats end Lander win streak at Homecoming
Feb. 20—Character.
Georgia College & State University men's basketball had an eight-game losing streak that ended a month ago. It's character, head coach Ryan Aquino said, that kept the Bobcats coming back after each loss and working harder.
The eighth loss in a row was at Lander University Jan. 20 74-66. Since then, the Lander Bearcats had a five-game winning streak that put them at first place in the Peach Belt Conference and No. 19 in NCAA Division II. That streak came to an end Saturday at The Centennial Center, and the 69-62 win for Georgia College & State University was its fifth in the last eight games and evened the overall record at 12-12.
Brady Spence, the 6-9 graduate transfer, couldn't tell which of his three made baskets down the stretch Saturday was the biggest, but it led him to a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. With less than three minutes to play and the Bobcats holding on to a 61-58 lead, Spence had a hold of the basketball just inside the 3-point arc. He's looking for an open teammate, but as he was unable to find one he decided to release an all-net jumper.
"I think my teammates and coach have more confidence in my jump shot than I do," said Spence through all smiles after the game.
Lander answered by bringing the deficit back down to three points, 63-60. The Bobcats needed to respond to that, and Spence came through a little closer to the rim with a tip-in rebound.
The home team, in front of a Homecoming crowd, still had work to do as, with 49.5 seconds remaining in regulation, the Bearcats had a chance to tie or take the lead down 65-63. What happened instead was Bobcat Austin Sloan getting a hold of the ball and, against the Lander pressure, finding Spence wide open. A jumper and a tip are nice, but Spence gave the crowd what they really like to see, the slam.
"We closed," said Spence.
The Bobcats also raised their PBC record to 5-9, still in eighth place a game behind Georgia Southwestern State and Columbus State. Lander and North Georgia are tied for first place at 11-3 each.
Brendan Rigsbee led Georgia College with 24 points and four assists Saturday. All of Lander's double-figure scorers came off the bench. In fact, Lander only got six points from the five starters combined in the first half while Rigsbee alone scored 11 in the opening 20 minutes.
Spence got off to a great start with the game's first five points and blocked a Lander shot, then Rigsbee scored the next five. Richard Crawford III was Aquino's top scorer in a reserve role with seven points, three coming on his first attempt from the floor to help the Bobcats go up by nine, 16-7.
Georgia College in fact never trailed Saturday and blocked four shots in the first half. Rigsbee got into that swatting act himself while putting in one basket after another. If he missed, Spence was there for the put-back. Sloan wasn't the first to make a long outlet to Spence, for Rigsbee did that in the first half helping build a 12-point advantage 28-16.
Luke Chism's only points off the Bobcat pine came as the result of a lot of dribbling from Rigsbee and Aidan Kudlas. He beat the shot-clock buzzer, and GCSU went into halftime up 34-27.
34-27 is how the second half played out as well, and Sloan, held scoreless in the first half, was the one to put up five quick points. He scored off the offensive glass for a 10-point advantage, 41-31. Spence's hot hand produced back-to-back baskets and a steal leading to one more from Rigsbee (47-35).
Five more from Sloan, giving him 10 for the game, kept the lead at double figures at 59-48. With under five minutes to play, the Lander club from South Carolina made its move scoring after a blocked shot and gaining an immediate takeaway. The Bobcats avoided giving up points on that error, and Rigsbee took the ball to the hole to make it 61-53. Lander had scored the next five in a row before Spence's long jumper.
