Gaston College drops Region 10 contest by a single point

A strong start wasn't enough for Gaston College to take a Region 10 victory on Wednesday night as visiting Spartanburg Methodist rallied in the second half for a 65-64 victory at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School gymnasium.

The Rhinos (16-8, 4-5) roared ahead 32-14 at the 5:51 mark of the first half, led 37-28 at halftime and were still ahead 39-33 with 17:29 to play before the Pioneers' rally.

Spartanburg Methodist (19-9, 6-4) took the lead for good at 57-54 with 6:09 to play.

"We've got to put two halves together," Gaston College coach Jamie Rosser said. "We struggled with putting two halves together tonight. They just put their heads down and drove in on us.
"Our biggest challenge is we're not 100 percent concerned with the defensive end like we are on the offensive end, and it shows."

The Pioneers outscored the Rhinos 37-27 in the second half in a victory that pushed them into sole possesion of second place in Region 10 behind Caldwell Tech (21-3, 8-1). Brunswick (15-12, 5-4) and Cape Fear (11-12, 5-5) are close behind with the Rhinos now in fifth place of the competitive seven-team league.

Dee Merriweather hit four first half 3-pointers and added two more in the second half to lead Gaston College with 20 points. Other Rhinos standouts were Jordan Guthrie (13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists), DaMarco Watson (13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), Yarayah Evans (5 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocked shots), Jamal Ukaegbu (4 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots) and Asil Hoyle (4 points, 3 assists).

Gaston College remains at home on Saturday with a 3 p.m. game at Ashbrook High School against Richard Bland.

"We dropped a really good opportunity tonight to put us in a better position in the league standings," Rosser said. "Saturday we have to be ready. It's a necessary and must win."