Philadelphia, Pa. - The Georgian Court University men's basketball squad provided Philadelphia University all it could handle Wednesday evening as the Lions were edged by the Rams, 72-66, in an exciting Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) showdown.

GCU, still seeking its first victory vs. a conference foe, falls to 3-14 on the year while the Rams improve to 12-5 (6-2 CACC).

The home team mounted a 27-17 cushion with 8:48 to go in the first half before a Jordan Wejnert (Sr.-Pt. Pleasant, N.J.) lay-up cut the GCU deficit to just two points (30-28) at the 4:28 mark. Up 37-35 with 00:02 left before intermission, Philadelphia looked to be bringing the lead with them into the locker room. Georgian Court's Juwuan Carter (Fr.-Paterson, N.J.) had other ideas as he swished a half-court prayer at the horn to put the Lions ahead at the break, 38-37, giving Carter 17 points in the stanza.

In another closely-contested frame, the Rams snapped a 52-52 stalemate with 10:48 left in regulation on a pair of TJ Huggins (Jr.-Alexandria, Va.) free throws, a lead Philadelphia would not relinquish. A Wejnert jumper with just 1:24 remaining put the Lions within one point at 67-66, but the Rams proceeded to close the affair on a 5-0 spurt to seal the victory.

Carter led all scorers with 26 points, shooting an impressive 10-of-13 from the floor. Wejnert followed with 22 points on the night, hitting 9-of-17. 

Derek Johnson (Jr.-Conshohocken, Pa.) paced the Rams with a team-best 20 points while Peter Alexis (Jr.-Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) collected a double-double consisting of 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lions return to campus Saturday afternoon when they host Dominican College at 3:00 p.m.