Bobcats, Lady Bobcats stumble in season debuts
The Georgia Northwestern Bobcats trailed by just six points at halftime this past Friday night, but the visiting Toccoa Falls College Screaming Eagles blistered the nets in the second half and pulled away for a 95-73 victory in Rossville.
Toccoa Falls led 18-14 midway through the first half when they began to get hot from the perimeter. They outscored the Bobcats 24-13 over the next 6:37 to go in front 42-27. But the home team would rally in the final 2:53, using a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to 45-39 at the break.
A defensive change seemed to confuse the Eagles in the early stages of the second half, but they would adjust and re-opened a double-digit lead. Georgia Northwestern (0-1) would stay within striking distance and trailed 71-61 with 10 minutes to play, but that would be as close as they would get.
Toccoa Falls would connect on 71 percent of their shots from the field in the second half (22 of 31) and the Eagles would keep the Bobcats at arm’s length.
Jovan Morris led all scorers with 34 points and went 15 of 25 from the field. Faizon Jackson finished with 25 points on 10 of 12 shooting, including 5 of 6 from behind the arc. Cameron Williams added 17 points, while Zach Barrett finished with 11.
Darrius Fugh picked up where he left off last year for the Bobcats with 24 points, including a 9 for 10 performance from the free throw line. Former LFO Warrior guard Alex Rattanaxay had a solid game with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists in his GNTC debut. Daniel Parrish had nine points and six boards, while Patrick Simmons also finished with nine points.
In the night’s opener, the Lady Bobcats fell to
0-2 on the young season with a 68-29 loss to the Lady Eagles.
Kambria Bankston paced Georgia Northwestern with 11 points and added four rebounds. Sharqueva
McCoy had seven points and four rebounds, while Sprite Dyer added five points and six boards. Carrie Benedict dropped in four points and had a team-high seven rebounds.
The Lady Bobcats played on Nov. 1 at Hiwassee College in Madisonville, Tenn.
and dropped a 102-26 decision to the Lady Tigers.
McCoy and Bankston had four points each in the loss, while Katy Phillips had three.
The Georgia Northwestern women will host Judson (Ala.) College on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Rossville
Athletic Center, while both GNTC teams will in action on Thursday at Bryan College against the school’s junior varsity teams. The Lady Bobcats will open play that night at 5:30 p.m.
Both teams will go on the road for games at Welch College in Nashville on Saturday.