Gaston College improves to 9-0 with pair of wins over the weekend

Gaston College's unbeaten start continued over the weekend with a pair of victories over non-league National Junior College Athletic Association opponents in the Caldwell Tech Classic on Saturday and Sunday.

In Saturday's afternoon opener, the Rhinos won 98-87 over Harford, Md., Community College.

And on Sunday's midday contest, Gaston College edged Pelissippi State, Tenn., Community College 85-81.

The sweep gives the Rhinos a 9-0 record on the season and continues the second-fast start in school history; The 1966-67 team started out 14-0.

In each contest, all 10 Gaston College players who participated scored points in games in which the Rhinos built double-figure leads and came away with victories.

"When you go to a neutral site and win two Division I junior college games, it's a good weekend," Gaston College coach Benny Moss said. "The way we played still gives us a lot to work on.
"In both games, we were up handily and the games got tight again. On Saturday, we pushed it out at the end and today we didn't. But we did enough to win both games."

Foul trouble to starting sophomore center Kaleb Siler on Saturday and starting sophomore point guard E.J. Joyner on Sunday also tested the depth of the Rhinos' lineup.

On Saturday, sophomore forward Jozohn Price had a team-high 18 points along with five rebounds. Joyner (15 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists), freshman guard Tony Goodman (15 points), Siler (10 points, 5 rebounds) and sophomore forward Ryan Evans (10 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists) were Gaston College's leaders.

On Sunday, Siler had 18 points and 10 rebounds to led the way. Evans (14 points, 5 rebounds), Price (12 points), Joyner (10 points, 3 assists) and sophomore guard J.R. Watson (8 points, 8 assists, 3 steals) were the Rhinos' leaders.

Gaston College returns to action this weekend with a pair of road games - Wednesday at 7 p.m. at nearby Belmont Abbey College against that school's developmental team and on Saturday at Region 10 Division II opponent Virginia Peninsula at 2 p.m.

"We'll take Monday off and work on some corrections on Tuesday then play the game on Wednesday and have Thursday and Friday prep work for a tough road game on Saturday," Moss said.