Gaston College improves to 6-0 with Saturday win over Cleveland Community College

The Gaston College Rhinos are off to one of the fastest starts in school history following Saturday afternoon's 83-70 win over nearby rival Cleveland Community College at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School.

Gaston College is 6-0 for only the third time ever and the second time in five years since re-starting the program in 2021.

The Rhinos started a school-best 14-0 in the 1966-67 season and started 6-0 when its resumed athletics in the 2021-22 season.

Kaleb Siler (23 points, 11 rebounds), Ryan Evans (18 points, 6 rebounds), Tin Tikvesa (9 points, 10 rebounds), E.J. Joyner (8 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists), J.R. Watson (6 points, 3 assists, 3 steals) and Jozohn Price (5 points, 9 rebounds) led Gaston College.

Rhinos coach Benny Moss' team, who is now off until Nov. 23, forged a 40-33 halftime lead and raced to a 20-point lead twice early in the second half before the visiting Yetis scored 14 unanswered points late in the half to close within 70-68 with 2:19 to play.

"I thought we did a good job of playing one possession at a time for 30 minutes then we sort of let up and quit doing what was working," Moss said. "We were content to pass around the perimeter and take a shot. And bad offense leads to some bad transitions."

Down the stretch, Siler scored seven points in a 13-2 surge that closed out the contest.

"Credit to them," Moss said of Cleveland Community College. "They played hard and they went zone and we just forgot our principles against a zone and it got us into a little bit of trouble."

The upcoming off days are due to last week's postponement of an originally-scheduled Nov. 19 home game against longtime National Junior College Athletic Association Division II power Davidson-Davie Community College to Jan. 5.

"It feels great to have a break," Moss said. "It's the blessing in disguise of having Davidson-Davie get rescheduled. We've got time to practice on us now. We've played a lot of games in a short time so we've been scouting and game planning. Now we get a chance to practice on some things that we've got to work on as a group."

Gaston College returns to action on Nov. 23 in a 2 p.m. game at the Converse University junior varsity in Spartanburg, S.C.