Pride Men Ground Seahawks In Overtime
Courtesy of Wes Gullett, Sports Information Director at Greensboro College
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Cornelius Johnson, who finished with 24 points, recorded a block as time expired to send the game into overtime before the Greensboro College men’s basketball team topped the Seahawks of St. Mary’s College of Maryland Saturday, 92-85.
With the game tied at 79 with seven seconds remaining, St. Mary’s recorded a steal and laid the ball off the glass before Johnson came soaring through the lane to swat it away.
“I knew I had to go hard and make the block because my teammates worked hard the entire game to get that point,” Johnson said. “When you are in that situation, you have to stay composed and continue battling no matter the adversity. We had a chance to win the game earlier but when I made the block, I knew it was our game to lose. ”
The Pride then outscored the Seahawks 13-6 to secure the victory.
“Tonight was an outstanding collegiate basketball game,” Head Coach Bryan Galuski said. “I would say that even if we were on the wrong side of the score tonight.”
Before the amazing ending, Greensboro trailed 24-16 with 9:28 showing on the first half clock.
However, Greensboro was able to mount a comeback to take just their second lead of the contest at 27-25 following an 11-1 run. During the run, the Pride connected on five of their six shots from the field. Johnson fueled the spurt with an old-fashion three-point play before capping it off with another layup.
Following the Greensboro run, St. Mary’s was able to regain a three-point advantage at 33-30 with 3:12 remaining on the first half clock, but the Pride used an 11-0 run over the final three minutes to take a 41-33 halftime lead. Joseph Gatling scored five points during the run, while Carmoni Marks, Darus Maddox and Johnson tallied two points each.
In the second half, Greensboro quickly established their largest lead of the contest following a Maddox layup on the Pride’s first possession of the half, but the Seahawks battled back to tie the game at 60 halfway through the period.
St. Mary’s then went on to establish an eight-point lead with just over five minutes remaining in regulation before the Pride battled back once again.
Greensboro briefly regained a two-point lead with 36 seconds remaining before the Seahawks got a bucket to set up the final seconds of regulation and the finish.
“I am really proud of our guys as they put a lot of effort in to this win,” Galuski added. “Our focus was on defense and rebounding the basketball. Even though we were out rebounded in the game, I was happy with how hard our guys went after the ball.
“Our guys battled throughout the adversity today and did not fold. That is where our challenge has been as a team so far this season. We have not folded at any point this season, but we have felt sorry for ourselves throughout games. As I said before, the guys did not do that today.”
Four other players joined Johnson in double figures scoring. Maddox finished with a game-high 26 points, while Gatling added 12 points. Keyford Langley and Marks added 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Pride shot 49-percent form the field on the afternoon, while only committing eight turnovers.
The Greensboro men will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to take on USA South Athletic Conference foe William Peace University at 7:30 p.m. For more information on Greensboro College men’s basketball, continue to follow www.greensborocollegesports.com.