Second Half Rally Drops GC Men’s Basketball at Ferrum 82-72

Despite a strong first half showing, the Greensboro College men’s basketball team was unable to fend off Ferrum (8-7 Overall, 5-1 USA South) in an 82-72 road setback on Wednesday night. The loss drops The Pride to 8-7 on the season and 3-4 in conference play.

Greensboro jumped out in front early, holding an 11-6 lead less than five minutes into the game. The Pride clung to the lead, eventually pushing the margin to 22-15 before Ferrum made a run of its own.

The Panthers scored the next six points to trim the deficit to 22-21 at the 9:17 mark. Greensboro responded, bringing the lead back to 30-23 following an 8-2 spurt.

Ferrum continued to hang tough, using an 11-3 run to pull within 34-33 with 1:48 to go in the first half. The Pride, however, were able to turn the table heading into the break, taking a 39-33 lead with the help of a Devonta Davis three and Raheem Martin bucket down the stretch.

After trading scores to begin the second half, the Panthers grabbed their first lead since the opening minutes of the game at 46-45 with 14:54 to go. Ferrum would take the lead and run with it, extending the gap to 53-46 before Greensboro could stop the drought.

The Panthers would go on to grow the margin, eventually going ahead by as many as 14 points. The Pride would make one final rally in the waning minutes, but could get no closer than seven points.

Luqman Tijani would tally 21 points to lead Greensboro offensively. Brian Thomas would finish with 13 points, while Damian Dixon added 12.

The Pride shot 36% from the field and went 6-22 from three. In comparison, Ferrum connected on 46% of its shots from the floor but were limited to 1-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Greensboro won the turnover battle, forcing 20 turnovers and committing 17, but came out on the short end of the rebounding category 39-31.

The Pride will return home for the first time since January 6 when they host Averett on Saturday at 4 p.m. A special dedication of the new Mayo C. Harlow Court will take place prior to tip-off.