Gaston College continue road excellence with win at Richard Bland

Gaston College's basketball team continued its decades long school tradition of road success with Saturday's 66-56 win at Richard Bland College.

Not only did the victory strengthen the Rhinos positioning in the Region 10 standings with a 21-3 overall record and 6-2 league mark, it also gives them a 3-2 road record in Region 10 game and 10-2 overall road mark.

In the school's nine-year conference history which dates to the old N.C. Community College Conference in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Gaston College is now 36-21 in league road contests. And Saturday's win gives the Rhinos a 3-2 league road record with one more road victory giving them a winning mark for the seventh time in nine years as a league member.

"It's a tribute to our guys," Gaston College coach Benny Moss said of his team's road success. "It's hard to win on the road because you have to have a tough mindset and be tough physically and mentally.
"This group is doing it. And I couldn't be more proud of them and what they're trying to do heading into the stretch run of the conference."

In Saturday's win, the Rhinos tailed by three late in the first half and 28-27 at the break before taking charge of the game in the second half.

A 16-7 surge after halftime gave them a 43-34 lead with 14:28 left to play. Richard Bland (7-10, 3-6) got no closer than five the rest of the way.

Sophomores Kaleb Siler (19 points, 10 rebounds), E.J. Joyner (12 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists) and Ryan Evans (12 points, 7 rebounds) and freshmen Tony Goodman (8 points, 4 rebounds) and Tin Tikvesa (6 points, 6 rebounds) led Gaston College on Saturday as it completed a seasonal sweep of Richard Bland.

On defense, sophomores J.R. Watson and Kush Carter in addition to Joyner and Goodman took turns trying to slow down Region 10 leading scorer Andy Ramirez (19.3 average). Ramirez finished with 19 points and was limited to six points in the second half.

"Kush did a great job on Ramirez," Moss said. "He and the rest of the guys we used were really locked in on him."

The Rhinos now face a quick turnaround following the longest road trip in the league (4 1/2 hours) to now play three straight home games this week at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School gymnasium - Monday at 8 p.m. against USC Salkehatchie, Thursday at 8 p.m. against Wake Tech and Saturday at 2 p.m. against Cape Fear Community College.

USC Salkehatchie entered Saturday's game as the highest-scoring college basketball team in any organization of the country at 114.9 points per game.

"We've got to take care of homecourt now," Moss said. "And we've got to be focused one game at a time."