LAKEWOOD, NJ (Dec. 30, 2023) - Georgian Court Men's Basketball gave one of the CACC preseason favorites Goldey-Beacom all they could handle Saturday afternoon in Lakewood. The Lions hung around with the Lightning and had a lead late in the first half, but ultimately fell 84-78. The loss drops GCU to 1-9 this season and 0-2 in the CACC.

How it Happened
• Georgian Court was the better shooting team hitting 45% while Goldey-Beacom was at just 40%. The Lions connected on 41% from three, including going 4-7 in the second half.
• Goldey-Beacom shot 39% from behind the arc, but totaled 11 made three-pointers.
• Foul shooting helped and hurt the Lions. The good is they were 17-19. The bad is they sent the Lightning to the line for 37 shots and GBC made 23 of them.
• Turnovers were a problem for the Lions. They turned the ball over 20 times and forced just nine. The Lightning scored 23 points off GCU turnovers.
• The Lions led in the rebounding department 39-36 and scored 15 second-chance points.
1st Half
• Goldey-Beacom scored nine of the first 10 points, getting out to a 9-1 lead a little more than two minutes into the game.
• Trailing by 10, Georgian Court came all the way back with a 13-3 to the game at 16 midway through the half. Donavin Crawford scored five points and Justin Harper added four.
• Still tied at 18, Clint Wright, Jr. gave the Lions their first lead, 21-18 still with nine minutes to play. A pair of Crawford free throws put GCU ahead 23-18, their largest lead of the game.
• Goldey-Beacom quickly answered though with a 7-0 run, helped out by seven from Damani Thomas and reclaimed a 25-23 lead.
• The lead went back-and-forth a few times, but the game was tied again at 35 with 2:11 to play in the half. Justin Harper made a layup with 90 seconds left, putting GCU on top 37-35.
• In the final 1:32 though, Goldey-Beacom scored six straight and went into the half up four, 41-37.

2nd Half
• Early in the second half, Goldey-Beacom used another 7-0 run to bring their lead to nine, 48-39. 
• They followed that with two Damani Thomas three-pointers to go up 13, 54-41 with just under 15 minutes left in the game.
• With 10:30 left in the game, GBC took their largest lead, 18, 61-45 on another Thomas three ball.
• But the Lions started to mount a bit of a comeback and it took just three minutes for the Lions to get the lead under 10 following a Harper three-pointer.
• Cameron Edmonds made a layup with with 7:05 to play it was a seven-point game, 67-60.
• Georgian Court couldn't get any closer though and Goldey-Beacom made some free throws to push the lead back into double-figures.
• The Lions closed the game on a 9-2 run over the final 1:14, to get things closer as the game went final, 84-78.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Justin Harper scored 16 on 6-9 shooting with eight rebounds.
• Taheen Braswell-Brown also grabbed eight boards and added nine points.
• Donavin Crawford was 4-7 and 3-3 from behind the arc scoring 15.
• Cameron Edmonds scored 11 with four rebounds while Clight Wright, Jr. added 10.

For the Lightning
• Damani Thomas had the hot hand going 7-14 from three and 6-6 at the line for 27 points.
• Zayon Marsh, Mekhi Collins and Ayshoin Centeno each scored 13.
• Nazim Derry scored seven with nine assists. 

News and Notes
• The game started an hour late after one of the rims broke during warm-ups. Credit Robbie Fitzpatrick, Coach Michael Mason and TK Kleber for helping get a replacement rim on so the game could be played.
• Clint Wright, Jr. grabbed his 200th career rebound.
• Cameron Edmonds scored his 300th career point.
• The Lions picked up their first ever win over Goldey-Beacom in 2022-23. This loss puts them at 1-18 all-time. 
• GCU's 78 points are their most scored in a game this season.

Up Next
• After the New Year Georgian Court plays right back at home. Tuesday, Jan. 2 they host University of Charleston in a nonconference battle starting at 2 p.m.