LAKEWOOD, NJ (Nov. 8, 2024) - Georgian Court Men's Basketball is ready to start a new era with a new coach. It all gets underway this weekend. 

Opponents (2023-24 Record)
Bentley Falcons (19-11, 14-8 NE10)
Lock Haven Eagles (21-8, 18-4 PSAC)

Where
Waltham, MA - Barbara Stevens Court - at Bentley
Lakewood, NJ - GCU Wellness Center - vs. Lock Haven

When
Saturday - Nov. 9 - 1:30 pm at Bentley
Tuesday, Nov. 12 - 6 pm vs. Lock Haven

How to Watch
• Saturday's game at Bentley can be see on Northeast-10's FloSports portal. It is a pay-to-view broadcast. Tuesday's game is a free-to-view broadcast on the Georgian Court portal of the CACC Digital Network. 

Previously vs. Bentley
• This is the second straight season Georgian Court and Bentley have met.
• They met in last year's season opener as well in Lakewood, an 86-61 Falcon victory.
• These teams also met in 2017, another Bentley win meaning the Lions are 0-2 against the Falcons.
• Last season, Bentley raced out to a 47-29 first half lead. Things were more competitive in the second half as the Falcons outscored the Lions by just seven, 39-32.
• Clint Wright, Jr. led the Lions scoring 15 points while Donavin Crawford and Khalil Baker each scored 11.

Previously vs. Lock Haven
• This is the first ever meeting between these teams.

Individual Milestones
• Amari Jones is 12 rebounds away from 150 in his career.
• Two games played will get Jahsan Johnson to 20 and Hassan Jackson to 50. Jackson also needs 16 points for 200.
• Donavin Crawford needs 13 points to reach 250. 
• Taheen Braswell-Brown needs 19 points to get to 250. 
• Anthony Rivera is two rebounds short of 100 and seven points away from 200.

Preseason Rankings
• Coming into the season the Lions were picked to finish sixth in the CACC South Division, which is where they ended last year. 
• Jefferson and Post were picked to top each division in the 2024-25 preseason coaches poll. 

Meet the New Boss
• Georgian Court hired Dave Fedor to be the fourth men's basketball coach in program history in May. 
• This is Coach Fedor's second stint with the Lions. He was an assistant coach during their second year as a program in 2014-15.
• Fedor comes to GCU after spending six seasons as an assistant coach at Division I Robert Morris. 
• His coaching career started as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Rutgers from 2012-14.
• The Rutgers grad grew up in Hamilton, NJ and played prep ball at Steinert High School. 

2024-25 Outlook
• There were 17 Lions who stepped onto the floor last season and 14 are back for the 2024-24 season.
• That includes all but one of their top-10 in scoring.
• Taheen Braswell-Brown, Amari Jones, Anthony Rivera, Cam Edmonds and Donavin Crawford all started at least 10 games.
• The Lions also brought in a host of new talent including four true freshmen - Miles White, Rafael Barcinas, Jeremy Chen and AJ Lemons and transfers Caleb Mims, Malek Mims, and Michael Duviella.
• The roster is up to 23 with 16 back from last year's squad.

The Schedule
• Georgian Court has a tough nonconference schedule in front of them starting with Bentley and Lock Haven.
• They then host Bloomfield before starting a five-game road trip that includes a stop at Division I Fordham.
• Other nonconference games include Molloy, Kutztown, Queens, New Haven, Saint Michael's, Fairmont State and St. Thomas Aquinas. 
• The CACC remains tough with home-and-home matches with South Division opponents and single games against the CACC North Division. 

About Bentley
• Bentley is a typical power in the Northeast-10 Conference. Last year was no difference as they went 19-11 overall and 14-8 in league play.
• They were bounced atypically early from the NE10 Tournament after advancing to the East Region Finals in 2022-23.
• In the Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches Poll, Bentley was picked to finish third. Despite finishing third, they received no first-place votes, the only team in the top-five in the poll without one.
• The Falcons bring nine players back from last year's squad and three starters. That includes All-NE10 guard Cash McClure and graduate students Aaron Latham and Ivan Misic.
• Bentley last year outscored opponents by an average of 10 points, 80-70 while shooting 47% from the floor and were near 40% from three, which saw them rank eighth in all of Division II.
• The Falcons were also excellent at controlling the ball. Their 1.65 assist to turnover ratio was sixth nationally and their 10.3 turnovers per game led the conference.
• They outrebounded teams by 5.5 per game and averaged more than 10 offensive rebounds per contest. 
• A big loss for Bentley is All-American Zach Laput who led the team scoring 20 points per game. 

About Lock Haven
• Lock Haven had an outstanding season that came to an end in the PSAC Tournament Final Four.
• They still finished 21-8 overall and 18-4 in the conference. Their PSAC Tournament win was their first since 1990. 
• Despite winning their first division crown last year, in the 2024-25 Preseason Coaches Poll, the Bald Eagles were picked to finish fifth in the PSAC East. 
• The Bald Eagles are bringing back three starters from last year's squad including fifth-year Eli Washington and senior Isaiah Stewart. 
• Stewart is a long-time Bald Eagle veteran having started 83 career games and is less than 100 points away from scoring 1,000 for his career. 
• The team is losing two of their top three scorers from last year in 20-point scorer Justice Shoats and Collin Jones.
• Last year's team shot 47% overall and 36% from behind the arc. 
• On the defensive end, they blocked more than four shots per game. They were also sound defensively and put their opponents on the free throw line for just 16 attempts per game and took 115 more free throw attempts than their opponents.