GCC Athletics Update: Men’s Basketball/Men’s Lacrosse
Written by WBTA STAFF on March 12, 2018
Rahmel Thompson led GCC in both weekend playoff games with 52 points (photo credit: GCC Athletics/Curtis Kreutter)
Press Release:
Men’s Basketball Team Loses Heartbreaker after Impressive Rally
The Genesee Community College men’s basketball team was close to a storybook ending in their Region III semifinal playoff game against Erie, but the Kats snatched Genesee’s only second-half lead away in the final 30 seconds to end the Cougars’ season.
The Cougars entered the second half down by six at 38-32 and trailed by as much as 11 during the second, but Genesee put together an impressive rally that saw the Cougars stay within striking distance before taking their first lead of the second with just one minute to go.
A Brian Fobbs layup made it an 80-79 game, but Erie went back ahead 81-80 with 30 seconds to go before adding a pair of free throws that gave the Cougars just eight seconds to sink a three and send the game to overtime.
Both halves almost played out identical as aside from exchanging baskets in the first few minutes, Genesee trailed almost the entire first half but took its first lead in the final minute with a Rahmel Thompson layup for a 32-31 lead. Erie rattled off the half’s last seven points in the final 30 seconds for the 38-32 halftime lead.
The difference in the game ultimately came down to the Kats ability to respond to Genesee taking its lead from them with the Kats holding a collective 11-0 scoring edge when combining the final 30 seconds of each half.
On paper it appeared Genesee was the far better shooting team in holding the edge percentage-wise from the floor percentage 51-40 and from beyond the arc at 42-26, but the Cougars who have been strong at the foul line all season only shot 67 percent to Erie’s 85 and Erie dominated the boards with a 45-28 edge. Of Erie’s 45 rebounds almost half (22) were offensive. Erie also edged the Cougars in second-chance points (24-11) and bench points (38-9) and were able to hold the nation’s leading scorer – Fobbs – to 17 points, something very few teams were able to do all season so credit has to go to Erie’s defensive game plan.
Leading Genesee was Thompson with 22 points, followed by 20 from Jarett Haines. Brandon Peters added 10 to give Genesee four double-digit scorers. Fobbs led the team in rebounds with eight, followed by seven from Thompson.
Thompson’s 22 points moved him into 10th place on the all-time career scoring list with 1063 points; five ahead of Dave Spiller. Fobbs finished with 1306 in fourth-place all-time and 48 behind No. 3 Rodney Knight.
No. 4 Men’s Lacrosse Team Moves to 2-0 with 22-4 Win
The No. 4 nationally-ranked Genesee Community College men’s lacrosse team moved to 2-0 with a 22-4 road win over the Community College of Baltimore County March 10.
The Cougars got out to a 6-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. The fifth goal of the opening quarter by Jason Chiodo proved to be the game winner as Genesee added 16 more goals in quarters two through four.
Two Cougars accounted for 16 points with each registering eight. Alex Mack scored five goals to go with three assists, while Kevin McParlene split his eight points evenly with four scores and four helpers.
The Cougars threw 53 shots at the net with 37 on target. Mack had nine shots, while McParlene had eight to lead Genesee. Eight other Cougars scored in addition to Mack, McParlene and Chiodo with none of those eight registering more than two points for the contest.
Genesee dominated in faceoffs (21-6) and groundballs (27-13) and utilized three goalkeepers during the contest. Garrett Lazore saw the bulk of the action from the cage with six saves in almost 42 minutes, while Troi Benedict and Lincoln Potter combined for three saves in 18 combined minutes.
Chiodo finished with three goals, while two Cougars recorded a pair of goals each from Zach Wade and Patrick Bilbrey. Single tallies came from Josh Bernas, Joshua Shields, Tyler Thompson, Robert Campany, Mat Anderson and Evan Hollfelder.
Mark Jagord
GCC Sports Information
