LAKEWOOD, NJ (Nov. 12, 2024) - Georgian Court Men's Basketball put up a spirited effort in their 2024-25 home opener in front of an excited crowd in the Wellness Center. Trailing by eight to Lock Haven with three minutes to play, the Lions cut it down to two, but couldn't get any closer in a three-point loss, 78-75, to fall to 0-2 to start the year.

How it Happened
• Both teams shot right around the 40% mark and were above 30% from three. Georgian Court took 26 total three-pointers making nine.
• Georgian Court hit 18-24 at the line, but missed some crucial ones down the stretch. Lock Haven was 26-36 as the Lions 31 fouls got them in early foul trouble and sent the Bald Eagles to the line.
• Rebounding numbers favored the visitors with Lock Haven grabbing 45 and GCU 33. Lock Haven also grabbed 15 on the offensive end turning that into 21 second-chance points.
• The Lions won the turnover battle, 17-12 and scored 23 points from Lock Haven giveaways.
• Points in the paint were even at 28. Lock Haven's bench scored 48 while the Lions got 19 from non-starters.
1st Half
• The Lions had a great start and led for most of the opening half.
• GCU shot 42% overall and hit 6-15 from three in the first 20 minutes.
• Tied at seven, GCU went on a 12-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 19-9. Justin Harper scored five points during the spurt as he and Jacob Santiago each connected from deep.
• Both teams went cold for more than two minutes. It wasn't until an Idris Ali three at the 10:23 mark stopped the scoring drought.
• That three started a 12-2 run for Lock Haven as they clawed back to tie with 6:48 to play in the half.
• Neither team led by more than three points for the rest of the half as they were trading baskets.
• In the closing seconds, Donavin Crawford buried a three to tie the game at 37 heading into the half.
2nd Half
• The second half started just like the first ended with plenty of back-and-forth action.
• Leading by one, Miles White with a three at the 14:02 mark gave Georgian Court their first two-possession lead of the half.
• An old-fashioned three-point play from Santiago and a layup from Justin Soranno extended the Lion lead to seven, 55-48.
• Again though Lock Haven started to chip away at the GCU lead. They used a 12-5 run to tie the game up at 60 with 6:17 remaining.
• The Bald Eagles continued to pour it on and a Kevin Coleman ally-oop plus a foul gave Lock Haven their largest lead of the game, 71-63 with three minutes to play.
• Georgian Court battled back. A couple of free throws and a Khalil Baker layup cut it to five with two to play and an offensive foul and another Baker layup made it a one-possession game with just 96 seconds to go.
• After two Lock Haven free throws brought the lead back to five, Crawford sank his third three of the game to make it a two-point game.
• Key moment with 28 seconds left, now down by four, Crawford fouled on a three-point attempt went 1-3 at the line. He made up for it with a layup after a Caleb Mims steal, but GCU was still down one with 16 seconds remaining.
• With 10 seconds left and needing to foul, the Lions put Idris Ali at the line who calmly sank both attempts.
• Down on the other end on the final play, Justin Harper took a three, looking to draw some contact, got some but no foul game as the shot was off the mark and the Bald Eagles held on, 78-75.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Georgian Court was led in scoring by Donavin Crawford with 17 points on 5-9 shooting and 3-4 from behind the arc. He also came up with three steals.
• Khalil Baker went 5-10 for 14 points.
• Justin Soranno was two points away from a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds.
• Taheen Braswell-Brown and Justin Harper each scored 11.
• Jacob Santiago chipped in nine points and six assists.

For the Bald Eagles
• Kevin Coleman came off the bench to finish with a game-high 19 points on 7-10 shooting and was a rebound short of a double-double.
• Idris Ali scored 14 going 5-6 at the line.
• Eli Washington picked up 10 points and 10 assists for a double-double. 

News and Notes
• This was the first ever meeting between the Bald Eagles and Lions.
• The game featured a whopping 12 ties and 15 lead changes.
• Georgian Court's 75 points would have been their third-highest point total for all of the 2023-24 season.
• Their 11 steals would have been their second-most and 12 turnovers would have matched their second-fewest. 
 
Up Next
• Georgian Court is  home once again Saturday, Nov. 16 as they host Bloomsburg as part of a triple header inside the Wellness Center. Volleyball starts with Senior Day against Jefferson at 10 am and Women's Basketball is also against Bloomsburg at 2 pm with the men's game to follow.