Weekend sweep improves Gaston College basketball to 4-0

On Friday night and Saturday afternoon at Catawba Valley Community College's Tarlton Complex, Gaston College swept a pair of games to improve to 4-0 on the season.

On Friday, the Rhinos edged the host Red Hawks 96-91 in a game that saw 103 free throw attempts in a tightly-officiated contest that didn't end until 11 p.m.

On Saturday in a game that started at 1 p.m., Gaston College knocked off Roane Community College of Tennessee 80-71.

"At the end of the day, we came up here and played two good teams and went 2-0 so we have to be happy about that," said Rhinos coach Benny Moss, whose team returns to action on Tuesday at Guilford Tech at 7 p.m.

In the Friday victory, Ryan Evans (24 points, 9 rebounds), Kush Carter (18 points, 6 rebounds, 12 of 12 free throws), E.J. Joyner (14 points, 5 assists) and Kaleb Siler (13 points, 12 rebounds) led Gaston College to the victory.

"The biggest thing to take away from that is we didn't play our best but we found a way when it mattered," Moss said. "When a game is being officiated that tight, we have to as players make adjustments.
"I didn't think we adjusted to the officiating very well."

One player fouled out and three others finished the game with four fouls.

After getting back to campus early Saturday morning, the Rhinos returned to campus for game planning at 9:30 a.m. Saturday before playing a contest that started 14 hours after Friday's game had ended.

"Credit to our guys for dealing with a short turnaround," Moss said.

In Saturday's victory, Joyner (21 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals), Siler (17 points, 7 rebounds), Jozohn Price (16 points, 5 rebounds) and J.R. Watson (11 points, 4 assists) led the way.

"In the first game, Ryan shot the ball extremely well and Kush was phenomenal, especially on defense and at the free throw line," Moss said. "Today you had Jozohn step up and E.J. and Kaleb also having big games.
"Having different guys on different days and keep our team-first mentality, we have a chance to do well."