Greensboro College Pride’s Gatling Surpasses 1,000 Point Milestone In Victory Over Pacers(Looking back for Caldwell and Hunt?):Gatling with 26 points/K.J. Langely(Southwest Guilford HS) with 18 for Pride

Gatling Surpasses 1,000 Point Milestone In Victory Over Pacers
Courtesy of GC SID, Wes Gullett

RALEIGH, N.C. – Joseph Gatling became just the 14th Greensboro College men’s basketball player to eclipse the 1,000 career point mark Wednesday as the Pride men topped the Pacers of William Peace University, 96-90.

from the old history books, I am here hoping that Clarence Caldwell and Calvin Hunt are on that 1,000 point list….

The full rundown on Gatling and the Pride….

RALEIGH, N.C. – Joseph Gatling became just the 14th Greensboro College men’s basketball player to eclipse the 1,000 career point mark Wednesday as the Pride men topped the Pacers of William Peace University, 96-90.

Gatling becomes just the 14th player in Greensboro College men’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points.

“To reach 1,000 points in my career is just a culmination of hard work and practice,” Gatling said. “I just want to thank my coaches for allowing me the opportunity to play basketball here at Greensboro College and for believing in me. They have always put me into a position to achieve this great milestone in my career.

“In addition to my coaches, I would not be at this point in my career if it was not for my teammates as well. They constantly remind me each day to keep my head up and keep shooting. I would not want to do this with any other program than here at Greensboro College.”

Demetrius Tilley and Cornelius Johnson scored on the Pride’s first two possessions of the contest to give their team a 4-0 lead. The Pride would then maintain the lead for the entire game.

After trading baskets for the next five minutes of play, Greensboro used a 13-2 run to take their largest lead of the half at 23-10 with 9:31 showing on the clock. Daron Gipson sparked the run for the Pride with an acrobatic layup from the left side before Gatling scored the next five points, including an old-fashion three-point play.

Following the Greensboro run, William Peace was able to chip the Greensboro advantage down to nine points at 40-31, but Keyford Langley connected on his first three-pointer of the evening to push the Pride advantage to 12 points at the break.

“I thought we played a really good first half,” Head Coach Bryan Galuski said. “We played good defense and only gave up 31 first half points, while also playing as a team.”

Over the first seven minutes of the second period, Greensboro extended their lead out to 15 points, following another three-pointer by Langley, but the Pacers did not give up.

Following the Langley three-pointer, William Peace went 10-of-16 from the field to pull within one point at 81-80.

However, the Pride extended their lead back out to eight points with under a minute to play, following an 11-4 run that featured a pair of long three-pointers by Darus Maddox.

Greensboro was then able to seal the game by connecting on four straight free-throw attempts over the final 45-seconds to pick up their first win of the conference season.

“We lacked a little bit of focus in the second half,” Galuski added. “We have a young group, in terms of understanding what it takes to win games, but we were able to pull things together to pull out the win. Overall, it was a great night for our team. It is hard to win college basketball games, and it is even harder to win on the road. We are growing as a team every day.

“In addition to our team, Joseph (Gatling) breaking 1,000 points tonight was awesome as he made history within our program. He puts in a lot of work in the gym to get better every day. Many times if you hear a basketball in Haynes Gym, it is Joe. I am just really proud of him and his hard work is paying off.”

Gatling finished with a team-high 26 points and four assists, while Maddox (20), Langley (18) and Tilley (16) also scored in double figures. Johnson hauled in a team-leading six rebounds.

Greensboro had one of their best shooting performances of the season as they connected on 52 percent (34-of-65) of their shots from the field and 87 percent (19-of-22) from the charity stripe.

The Pride men will return to the hardwood at 7:30 p.m. Friday when they host the Battling Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan in another USA South Athletic Conference tilt. For more information on Greensboro College men’s basketball, continue to follow www.greensborocollegesports.com.