Gardner-Webb falls in final seconds to NC Central

By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Gardner-Webb snatched defeat from the jaws of victory Saturday, as the Runnin’ Bulldogs fell to North Carolina Central, 78-77.

Gardner-Webb led by 17 points early in the second half, but could not hold the advantage as Isaac Parson delivered the game-winner for the Eagles as he scored on a 30-foot fadeaway with four seconds left, sending GWU to their third straight defeat.

“This was a tough one to take for sure,” GWU head coach Jeremy Luther said after the game. “We actually played good defense on that last play, the young man made an incredible shot.”

Pharell Boyogueno opened the scoring for GWU and Anthony Selden followed with a pair of free throws. By the time Jamaine Mann scored on a post move, the home team led 8-0, forcing an Eagle timeout. A Shahar Lazar reverse layup and Colin Hawkins three made the tally 13-0. NCCU did not score its first field goal until the 12:59 mark. That sparked a quick 5-0 run by the Eagles, but GWU still held a 16-9 lead midway through the first half.

As it has all season, the turnover bug bit the Bulldogs, as easy buckets allowed the Eagles to cut their deficit to 16-14. Mann ended the run with a three and Lazar scored on a back cut as Gardner-Webb increased its cushion to 22-16. Selden followed with a three-point play. NCCU answered with a three, but Buddy Simmons turned the same trick. By the time Brendan Mykalcio came off the bench to go on a personal 4-0 run, the double-digit lead for the home team was restored. Simmons converted a three-point play late in the half, and center Isaiah Richards beat the shot clock with a triple of his own as GWU led at the intermission, 41-28.

Selden converted a three-point play to start the second half and also scored on a putback as the lead grew to 48-31. The Eagles answered with a 10-0 run to get back in the game and cut the deficit to seven. GWU stopped the bleeding with three conversions in a row from the charity stripe.

Jacob Hudson came off the bench to score on a backdoor cut, but the Eagles hit two straight threes to stay within striking distance at 54-49. After another Trey fell for the Eagles, Lazar hit one of his own and a Mann bucket kept the lead at 61-57 at the under-8 media timeout.

NCCU hit five straight from the foul line to tie things at 61. The Eagles were then fouled on a 3-point attempt and sank all three chances to take their first lead of the contest. Selden retied things at 64, thanks to a layup heading into the final media timeout.

The teams continued to trade blows down the stretch, as Selden converted a big three-point play and Mann threw down a slam to give GWU a 77-73 with 1:11 left. After NCCU scored, Mann missed a pair of key foul shots with 24 seconds left, setting up the game’s final sequence.

STRONG START, POOR FINISH: GWU turned in one of its stronger starts to a game all season, jumping to a 13-0 lead.

“I think we were locked in and focused,” Luther said. “We were determined to get the bad taste from the Wofford game out of our mouths. We had a really strong first half. We answered the run that they made. I don’t know what happened in the second half. Maybe I should have made more adjustments, but that is something where we have to figure out what went wrong and fix it.”

TOO MANY TURNOVERS: GWU ranks near the bottom of the NCAA in turnover margin (350th), and Luther acknowledges the issue.

“That’s the difference in the game right there,” he said. “We had 19 turnovers in the game. That can’t happen. When they switched to that 1-3-1 press, we had trouble. We had a plan to break it and when we did, we were successful, but that did not happen often enough. We have tried lots of different things in practice to cut down on turnovers, but so far nothing has worked. Honestly, if we can’t get that corrected, it’s going to be a long season.”

KING OF THE COURT: NCCU’s leading scorer, Po’Boigh King did it again, with a game-high 28 points. Selden led GWU with 25.

UP NEXT: GWU will have a week off for exams before hosting Queens on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

“I don’t know if this is a good break for us or not,” Luther said. “Yes, it gives the team time to rest and focus on things in the classroom, but you also don’t want to have to sit on a loss like this all week. We will have to wait and see. I still believe in my heart this is a talented team and that we can do some special things, but things need to start happening now before conference play.”