STATEN ISLAND, NY (Nov. 14, 2025) - Georgian Court Men's Basketball opened their season with a neutral site game against regional power, St. Thomas Aquinas. The Lions were up for most of the game, but the Spartans outscored GCU 49-36 in the second half to come-from-behind for an 84-78 win. GCU senior Cam Edmonds scored his 1,000th career point in the second half. 

How it Happened
• Georgian Court had a strong offensive day. They shot 48.4% overall hitting 30-62 from the floor.
• Neither team was lighting it up from behind the arc. The Lions made 6-22 and the Spartans just 3-12. STAC outscored the Lions 46-44 in the paint. 
• Rebounding heavily favored the Spartans, 40-31 and 14-6 on the offensive glass. They scored 16 second-chance points to the Lions nine.
• GCU sent the Spartans to the line 30 times where they converted on 21 attempts. Georgian Court was 12-20 from the stripe.
• Turnover numbers were nearly equal. The Lions turned it over just two more times, 16-14, but STAC turned those 16 giveaways into 27 points. The Lions scored just 11 points off turnovers.

First Half
• It wasn't the start the Lions were looking for as the Spartans scored the first 10 points of the game. GCU started the game 0-4 with three turnovers in the first 3:17.
• The Lions didn't score their first points of the season until Anthony Rivera ended the STAC run with a layup a little more than four minutes into the game.
• From there, Georgian Court took over. They outscored the Spartans 42-25 the rest of the half as they went 16-28 from the field and 3-7 from three and the defense forced seven turnovers.
• It didn't happen right away as with 6:42 left to play in the half, STAC still led by nine, 28-19.
• That changed in the blink of an eye though with Donavin Crawford leading the charge. The Lions scored 10 points in 69 seconds with Crawford netting eight of them. His second three-pointer gave the Lions their first lead, 29-28.
• GCU didn't stop there. Jaycen Santucci hit back-to-back layups and made it a 14-0 Lion run.
• With 4:10 remaining in the half, STAC made it a one-possession game, 35-32.
• The final 3:35 was all Cam Edmonds. He outscored the Spartans by himself 7-3 and GCU took a 42-35 lead into the half.

Second Half
• The Lions picked up where they left off to start the second and Crawford buried another three bringing the GCU lead to 10, 45-35.
• STAC took advantage of a pair of Lion turnovers to go on an 8-0 run and it was quickly a two-point game, 47-45. 
• Georgian Court wasn't phased by the Spartans comeback and scored nine straight, regaining a double-digit lead on another triple from Crawford. That put them up 58-47 with 12:18 left.
• Even with a double-digit lead, Georgian Court was having a hard time staying out of foul trouble. With 11:26 remaining they picked up their seventh of the half, putting the Spartans into the bonus. 
• Brennan Chatman hit back-to-back threes midway through the half and turned it into a one-possession game, 60-57.
• The Lions offense was rolling though. They were 12-16 and 3-6 from three in the first 12 minutes of the second half. A three-pointer from Edmonds put GCU back up seven, 69-62 with under eight minutes to play.
• STAC refused to go away and used a 7-1 run to tie the game at 72 with six minutes left to play.
• They reclaimed their first lead since the first half at the foul as Will Landram II sank a pair for a 74-72 Spartan lead.
• Edmonds got back to the foul line and with two free throws tied the game at 74 with five minutes left to go.
• Still tied at 76, STAC scored five straight for an 81-76 lead with 1:40 left to play.
• The Lions brought it down to three, but the Spartans went 3-6 at the foul line in the final 30 seconds and put the game away, 84-78.
• After starting the second half 12-16 from the floor, the Spartan defense tightened up and the Lions finished just 2-12 over the final eight minutes.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Cam Edmonds led all scorers with 29 points. He was 8-15 overall and 12-16 at the foul line.
• Donavin Crawford added 16 points making 4-9 from three.
• Jaycen Santucci in his first collegiate game scored 10 with a team-best seven rebounds.
• Elijon Nix was 3-4 from the floor for seven points and dished out five assists. 

For the Spartans
• Jordan Green was 9-11 overall scoring 22 points.
• Joshua Michigan scored 14 hitting 7-11 from the floor.
• Ky Panda-Massey was in double-figures with 13 points.
• Will Landram II and Starrell Hearns each scored nine with seven rebounds. Hearns also dished out five assists. 

News and Notes
• Cam Edmonds is the sixth Lion to ever reach 1,000 career points. 
• This is the Lions fifth straight loss to the Spartans. They've met each of the previous two seasons. Both of those were double-digit losses for the Lions.
• Anthony Rivera grabbed his 100th career rebound. Rivera played in his first game since the 2023-24 season after missing all of last year due to injury. 

Up Next
• Georgian Court plays in their home opener tomorrow afternoon. They host Saint Michael's College with tipoff at 3 pm in the Wellness Center. It's a doubleheader day, not with women's basketball, but rather volleyball. GCU Volleyball closes the regular season with with Senior Day against Jefferson beginning at 11 am.