GC Men’s Basketball Unable to Hold off Ferrum in 65-63 Setback

The Pride men’s basketball team saw an eight point second half advantage evaporate in a 65-63 home loss to Ferrum on Saturday. Greensboro built the lead up to 50-42 with 12:01 to play and led 57-50 before the Panthers raced back for the USA South victory.

Luqman Tijani had a chance to give The Pride a win at the last second, but came up short on the three-point attempt. The exciting finish was set-up by a furious Ferrum rally down the stretch.

With Greensboro holding a 57-50 lead with 6:37 to go, the Panthers began to fight their way back into the game. Ferrum used a 9-2 spurt to even the game at 59-59 and took the lead at 61-60 with 2:02 to play.

The Panthers pushed the margin to 65-60 with 13 seconds to play and looked to be in control. The Pride kept hope alive, as Brian Thomas drained a three with five seconds left to cut the score to 65-63.

Following a timeout, Greensboro forced a turnover by Lamont King that gave The Pride their final opportunity.

Greensboro fell behind early in this one, trailing 10-0 before Thomas put The Pride on the board with a three. Greensboro narrowed the gap to 10-7 but saw Ferrum push the margin back to 25-18 at the 7:53 mark.

The Pride answered with a 9-2 run, capped by back-to-back three-pointers by Tracy Jester to knot the score at 27-27 with 3:40 to play in the first half. The Panthers were able to cling to a small lead from there and went into the break leading 33-31.

Ferrum opened the second frame by extending the lead to 40-35. Greensboro, however, kicked off a 13-0 run to grab their first lead of the game and go up 48-40.

Tracy Jester posted a team high 14 points for The Pride. Thomas contributed 13 points, with ten coming in the second half. Also hitting double figures in scoring was Lamonte Bell with ten.

Overall, Greensboro shot 48.9% from the field for the game and 40% from beyond the arc. The Panthers finished with a 51.0% shooting mark, including 54.5% from three. Ferrum held a 34-27 advantage on the boards.

With the loss, The Pride drop to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the USA South. Greensboro will next be in action on Wednesday at cross-town rival Guilford. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.