Gaston College takes dramatic road victory to move to top of Region 10 standings

For the second time this season, Gaston College's basketball team picked up a Region 10 road victory.

And for the second time this season, Rhinos' sophomore Tyheim Love provided the winning points of a nailbiting outcome - this time only six miles away from his hometown of Petersburg, Va.

Love's two free throws with 4.0 seconds left was the difference in Gaston College's 85-84 win at Richard Bland College in South Prince George, Va.

The contest also was a homecoming for freshman E.J. Joyner, who hails from Hampton, Va., some 101 miles away.

"They both played well," Gaston College coach Benny Moss said of Love and Joyner. "Ty did a good job of scoring tough baskets for us. And I thought E.J. and Jordan Brown did a good job of running the team."

The victory moved the Rhinos (15-2, 2-1) into a share of first place in the Region 10 standings with Cape Fear Community College (10-6, 2-1).

Love, who hit a late-game jumper in Gaston College's 86-84 win at Denmark Tech in its Jan. 15 league opener, led a balanced attack with 21 points. Judah Ravenell (19 points, 8 rebounds), Ryan Evans (16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots), Brown (12 points, 3 assists), Joyner (6 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists), Jozohn Price (6 points, 3 rebounds) and Kyhree McAlister (5 points) were other Rhinos' standouts.

"I'm very happy," Moss said. "Anytime you can go on the road and get a win in a tough environment, it's special.
"They honored their 2015 (NJCAA Divsion II) national championship team so they had a great crowd and a great atmosphere and we toughed it out and found a way to win."

The competitive game featured seven ties, 21 lead changes and the teams were never separated by more than eight points; Richard Bland's biggest lead was 59-51 with 13:58 to play and the Rhinos' biggest lead was 44-40 with 3:05 left in the opening half.

Due to a recent weather postponement, Saturday's game ended a seven-day layoff for Gaston Colllege and comes before a busy week of three home games.

The Rhinos will host back-to-back Region 10 league matchups on Wednesday (Denmark Tech) and Thursday (USC Salkehatchie) at 8 p.m. at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School before closing the week with a 3 p.m. Saturday game at Ashbrook against Division II opponent Central Carolina Community College.