Gaston defeats Erskine 92-56

Another strong defensive effort sparked Gaston College's new basketball team to a 92-56 victory Saturday afternoon at Gastonia's Piedmont Community Charter - and a 2-0 start to its season.

The Rhinos, who defeated Charlotte's Johnson and Wales University 79-72 on Friday night in their season opener, are the fourth team in school history to start a season with a 2-0 record. The school, which restarted athletics this season for the first time in 50 years, also started 2-0 three times in its previous history that lasted eight years from the 1964-65 to 1971-72 seasons.

Gaston College, which last started 2-0 in the 1970-71 season, used a suffocating defense to break open the game in the first half.

After being tied at 3-all with 15:41 left in the opening half, the Rhinos went on a 33-6 surge to take a 36-9 lead with 5:12 in the opening half. Gaston College forced Erskine into two of 11 shooting and six turnovers during that 10 1/2 minute stretch of the game.

Damon Davis (16 points, five rebounds, four assists), Da'marco Watson (12 points, four rebounds, five assists), Jaylen Bates (12 points, six rebounds) and Jared Funderburk (10 points) led a balanced Gaston College attack.

For the game, the Rhinos' defense forced 18 turnovers and limited the Fleet to 28.9 percent field goal shooting.

"Back to back can be a hard thing to do, but we took care of business," Gaston College coach David "Dickey" Nutt said. "The biggest message I've talked to the team about since last night was to be mentally focused and mentally ready to play another game so soon after we last played. I was proud of our guys. Our defense was good today."

Gaston College plays again at 7 p.m. on Wednesday against Lincolnton's Combine Academy at Gaston Christian School in Gastonia.