LAKEWOOD, NJ- The Georgian Court University basketball squad, coming off a five-game road trip, showed some mettle in Thursday's 74-59 loss to the defending CACC champions, Goldey-Beacom College, at the GCU Wellness Center.

The Lions (1-6, 0-2 CACC), playing their first home game since the season-opener vs. Lincoln University back on November 14th, trailed by only a basket, 31-29, at the intermission before losing steam in the second stanza, 43-30.

Senior guard Ryan McGrath led GCU's offense in the first frame with a team-high nine points (4-for-5) while redshirt freshman Tahira Matthews dropped in eight first-half points.

The Lightning (6-3, 2-1 CACC) offense surged immediately in the second half as they built a 10-point advantage, 43-33, just three minutes in. Georgian Court would cut the Goldey-Beacom lead to 43-38 at 16:19, but that would be as close as the Lions would get for the remainder of the contest.

Matthews topped her teammates with 15 points (5-for-9) in 23 minutes of action. McGrath tallied 11 points in her 33 minutes to go along with four boards and a block. Junior guard Ebony Sellers provided a team-high five assists.

Three Lightning players reached double-digits in the scoring column, including a game-high 20 points (10-for-13) from junior forward Irene Hudson (Syracuse, NY), 15 (7-for-10) from sophomore forward Briana Richmond-Peters (Camden, NJ) and 11 (5-for-9) out of redshirt junior guard Ashley Rosario (Levittown, PA).

Junior guard Devonne Richardson (Baltimore, MD) garnered a triple-double with her game-high 11 rebounds and 10 assists. She also dropped in five points.

GCU takes to the floor again Saturday afternoon when they host another CACC contest, this time vs. Concordia College. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 PM.