January 29, 2011
BATTLE OF FIRST PLACE TEAMS GOES TO GOLDEY-BEACOM
BLOOMFIELD, N.J. – The Goldey-Beacom College men’s basketball team came away with an electrifying 102-96 overtime win over Bloomfield College in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference barnburner Saturday afternoon in a battle of first place teams.
The Lightning improved to 13-7 (8-2 CACC) with the win and increased their lead in the CACC South standings over Philadelphia University to two games. They have now won the last three meetings against their CACC foe, Bloomfield.
With the loss, Bloomfield fell from atop the CACC North Division standings to a game behind Dominican. The Deacons are now 10-7 overall and 7-2 in league play.
Senior swingman Sam McDuffie led all Lightning scorers with 29
points, including the game-tying jumper with 1:06 remaining that
ultimately sent the game into overtime. He also pulled down a
game-high 11 rebounds and dished out three assists in 26 minutes
off the bench.
Also coming up big for the Lightning was senior forward
Terrence Parkes, who scored nine of GBC’s 16 points in the
overtime. He finished with 23 points and seven rebounds.
McDuffie and Parkes were two of five GBC players to score in
double-figures as the Lightning eclipsed 100 points in a game for
the first time since Nov. 22, 2008 against Penn State Abington.
Senior point guard Azeez Ellegood played all 45 minutes and had a
terrific all-around performance with 15 points, seven assists,
seven rebounds and five steals. Ellegood’s fellow senior
backcourt mates Darnell Cephas and Jon Crawford tallied 12 and 10
points, respectively.
For Bloomfield, Matt Wafula (game-high 31 points), Gage Daye
(24 points) and Ryan Rodrigues (21 points) combined for 76 of the
team’s 96 points. Wafula was an impressive 14-of-20 from the
field and also recorded nine rebounds, two blocks and two
steals.
Daye, who came into the game leading the conference and ranked
No. 3 in the nation in scoring at 26.4 points per-game, shot just
7-of-19 from the field (2-of-8 from three-point range) and turned
the ball over eight times.
Bloomfield, looking to avenge an 84-82 loss to Goldey-Beacom
in the CACC semifinals last season, took to the Lightning early and
grabbed a 14-6 lead nearly five minutes in. McDuffie and Parkes led
the GBC charge back, and eventually Ellegood’s three-pointer
at the 10:05 mark tied the score at 25-all.
Daye put the Deacons back in front, 28-25 with a triple, but
the Lightning closed out the final 9:30 of the half on a 24-8 run.
GBC led by as many as 15 in the frame after a Cephas layup and took
a 49-36 advantage into the intermission.
In the second half, Daye led off the scoring with a jumper to
cut the lead to 11, but Cephas responded with a three-ball to give
the Lightning their biggest lead of the afternoon, 52-38.
GBC controlled the lead for nearly the entire second half when
Matt Wafula’s jumper at 3:09 sent the game to the first tie
of the second half at 82-apiece. The two teams traded baskets
before Daye corralled a rebound off a McDuffie missed layup and
went coast-to-coast for a layup with 1:25 left in regulation to
give the Deacons their first lead since the 9:10 mark in the first
half.
On the ensuing Lightning possession, Parkes misfired on a
jumper, but McDuffie was able to come up with the offensive rebound
and sink a jumper to knot the score at 86. Later, GBC senior guard
Ido Yehuda came up with a steal to give the Lightning one last
opportunity for a win in regulation, but McDuffie could not get a
three-ball to go with 17 seconds remaining. Daye’s jumper at
the buzzer was off the mark as well, and the game went to
overtime.
The overtime period began with Daye uncharacteristically
missing both free-throws in a trip to the line nearly 30 seconds
into the action. Two consecutive layups by Parkes gave
Goldey-Beacom a 90-86 lead with just under four minutes to
play.
Three times Bloomfield cut the lead to two, but with a 98-96
lead and 11 seconds remaining, Parkes made 1-of-2 at the foul line
to make it a three-point game. After the Deacons misfired on two
outside jumpers, Parkes corralled the defensive rebound and was
immediately fouled.
Shooting a one-and-one, Parkes could not get his first
free-throw to go, but the ball went out of bounds off of
Bloomfield. The Lightning were then able to inbound to Ellegood, a
top-15 free-throw shooter among the CACC at a 78.5 percent clip.
Ellegood iced the game by making both at the line.
