CALDWELL, NJ (Feb. 3, 2024) - Georgian Court Men's Basketball was on the road against a CACC North Division foe in Caldwell Saturday afternoon. After some jockeying for the lead in the early going, the Cougars grabbed the lead late in the first and never looked back as they defeated the Lions 85-70. 

How it Happened
• Georgian Court finished the game shooting 53.2%, including 58% in the second half. The Lions were 4-10 from three with all four coming from Clint Wright, Jr.
• Caldwell shot 44.6% overall and made 6-27 from behind the arc.
• At the foul line, the Lions made 16-18 while the Cougars were 21-26.
• Caldwell held a big edge on the glass, 35-25, including a 16-3 advantage on the offensive glass. They outscored GCU 15-0 in second-chance points.
• Georgian Court finished the game with 23 fouls and 17 turnovers. Caldwell was called for 12 fouls and lost the ball 12 times.
First Half
• The scoring didn't get going until Anthony Rivera put in a layup nearly two minutes into the game.
• After that the teams traded baskets and five minutes in, GCU still held a two-point lead, 8-6.
• Caldwell missed their first five three-pointers of the game, but Darnell Evans finally hit and that gave the Cougars their first lead of the game, 11-8, at the 14:22 mark.
• The Cougars made it consecutive three's, pushing their lead to five, 14-9, which capped off an 8-1 run in 2:07. 
• Georgian Court answered with baskets from Thomas Menegus and Hassan Jackson to make it one-point game.
• Jackson scored six straight for GCU and gave the Lions a spark off the bench. His jumper briefly put the Lions up 17-16, but Caldwell answered right away with a three to reclaim the lead.
• Darnell Evans made two at the line for the Cougars making it a 21-17 Caldwell lead at the halfway point. 
• It was GCU's turn to answer and with Clint Wright, Jr. making two at the foul line and an Anthony Rivera layup, the game was tied at 21.
• Still tied at 25, Caldwell scored six straight in 1:19, taking their largest lead, 31-25, with under five minutes to play in the half.
• Caldwell made it a 12-0 run as the Lions were held scoreless for nearly three minutes until Jahsan Johnson broke the drought with a layup.
• The Cougars continued to pour it on nearing the end of the half. Darnell Evans made back-to-back three's as Caldwell outscored the Lions 10-4 over the final 2:12 of the half and led by 16, 49-33 at intermission.
• Since the game was tied at 25 with 6:24 to play, Caldwell outscored GCU 24-8 going 8-11 from the floor as the Lions were just 2-3 with five turnovers. 
Second Half
• The half started with Taheen Braswell-Brown scoring the first four points and all of the Lions first six points. 
• GCU scored eight of the first 10 points and less than four minutes in, the Lions brought the lead down to 10, 51-41.
• The Lions didn't miss in the first five minutes, going 4-4 from the floor and 4-4 at the foul line. Caldwell wasn't down long though and still held a double-digit lead.
• Darnell Evans with another and-one for the Cougars and the lead was pushed back to 15, 60-45 with 13:02 to play.
• Georgian Court was never able to get back to within single-digits the rest of the way as Caldwell rolled to an 85-70 win.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Anthony Rivera scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting with five rebounds.
• Taheen Braswell-Brown was 5-9 and scored 12 with five boards.
• Hassan Jackson scored 12 points on 5-8 shooting. 
• Clint Wright, Jr. ended the game 7-11 overall, 4-9 from three and scored a team-best 24 points.

For the Cougars
• Darnell Evans scored a game-high 32 points with five rebounds, five assists and five steals. 
• Kirk Parsons 
• Derrick Bueno finished with a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double. 
• Isaiah Philbert was 3-6 from three and scored 11. 

News and Notes
• Hassan Jackson set a new career high scoring 12 points.
• Clint Wright, Jr. surpassed 1200 career points. He also moved to sixth all-time in Lions history in assists and ninth in steals. 
• Anthony Rivera reached 150 points this season.
• This was the first game this season where the Lions shot better than 50%. It was also their second-best day shooting at the foul line. 
• The Cougars 49 first-half points are the most GCU has allowed to a CACC opponent this season.
• Georgian Court is now 3-8 all-time against the Cougars.  

Up Next
• Georgian Court is back at home Tuesday night with an 8 p.m. tiptoff against Holy Family.