Gaston College basketball clinches first conference title since 1972 on "Sophomore Day"

For the first time since 1972, Gaston College is a men's basketball conference champion.

The Rhinos won their ninth straight game during Sunday's "Sophomore Day" in a 104-89 victory over defending Region 10 champion Brunswick Community College at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School gymnasium.

Gaston College improved to 26-3 overall and 11-2 in Region 10 with one regular season game remaining on Thursday night at Caldwell Tech at 6 p.m.

The Rhinos also finished up with a 12-1 record in home games after honoring sophomores Kush Carter, E.J. Joyner, J.R. Watson, Ryan Evans, DeAngelo Canty, Jozohn Price, Michael Reaves, Spencer Breeden, Ben Stevens and Kaleb Siler.

Gaston College trailed by six points in each half and trailed for the last time at 62-61 with 10 1/2 minutes to play before closing the contest on a 43-27 surge for the 15-point victory.

"Winning a championship is a tribute to the guys in the locker room," Rhinos coach Benny Moss said. "From the preseason to non-conference to the conference season, they've brought it every single day.
"And we're not done yet. We've got a big one on Thursday and we want to take care of business because we want to win the outright title. That's our goal. It's a championship mentality and we want to win the next game."

Gaston College, which earlier fielded athletic teams from 1964 to 1972, three straight old N.C. Community College Conference titles from 1970 to 1972 and won the 1970 tournament title.

Since athletics resumed at the school in the 2021-22 school year, the Rhinos' basketball team finished tied for third, tied for fifth, tied for eighth and fourth in the Region 10 standings.

Even though it was "Sophomore Day," a freshman led the Gaston College's attack as Tony Goodman had a career-high 26 points with four rebounds, four assists and converted 14 of 15 free throws, including seven of eight in the last 1:18 to close out the win.

"Tony's really been coming and playing with confidence," Moss said. "He's making shots, he's driving into the paint and making good decisions and hitting free throws when he gets fouled."

Sophomores Siler (22 points, 10 rebounds), E.J. Joyner (18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists), Ryan Evans (16 points, 5 rebounds), Price (12 points, 6 rebounds) and freshman Tin Tikvesa (8 points) were the other big contributors.

"The important thing was sending the sophomores out with a win," Moss said. "We don't want to lose on 'Sophomore Day' no matter who we're playing or the circumstances surrounding the game."