Shoremen Hold off Frantic Gopher Rally in Final Minutes

TOWSON, Md. - The Goucher College men's basketball team whittled what had been a 20-point deficit early in the second half down to one with 6.9 seconds remaining, but visiting Washington College held on for a 82-80 non-conference men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon at the Decker Sports and Recreation Center.

• Goucher (2-7) held a 6-5 lead 3:35 into the game following a layup by Darrell Green (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall).
• Washington College (1-6) countered with eight straight points to go up 13-6 with just under 14 minutes remaining.
• The Shoremen upped the lead to 15, 29-14, with just over nine minutes left.
• The Gophers chipped away and a basket in the paint by Josh Lichti (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) with 4:37 on the clock made it 32-22.
• WAC took its largest lead of the first half, 47-30, on a basket with 48 seconds to go.
• A deep three by Green as time expired cut the lead to 14, 47-33, at the break.

• Washington College took its largest lead, 53-33, with 17:20 to go on a putback by Sam Corrao.
• A Lichti basket with 14:34 to go capped an 8-2 Goucher spurt and put the hosts within 14, 57-43.
• Trailing 70-53, an 8-0 run capped by a Green basket cut the Shoremen lead to nine, 70-61, with 6:15 to go.
• Goucher cut the lead to nine one more time, but Washington College led 79-67 with 2:18 left.
• A Jacob Morgan (Bowie, Md./Bowie) layup with 2:12 left sparked the late Gopher rally.
• John Dixon (Towson, Md./Loyola Blakefield) scored with 1:26 on the clock, and on the next WAC possession, Devin Brackenridge (Montgomery Village, Md./Watkins Mill) drew an offensive foul.
• Another Morgan basket with exactly 1:00 on the clock cut the lead to six, 79-73.
• The Shoremen missed two at the line on their next possession, with Green grabbing the rebound.
• Dixon was fouled going to the hoop with 43 seconds to go and made both free throws to cut the lead to four.
• Washington made 1-of-2 at the line on its next trip, then a Brackenridge 17-footer with 15 seconds to go made it a one possession game, 80-77.
• The Shoremen again made 1-of-2 at the line to make it 81-77.
• With 6.9 seconds to go, Lichti was fouled on a successful drive to the basket and sank the free throw to make it an 81-80 contest.
• Another 1-of-2 trip to the charity stripe for the guests made it 82-80.
• Green got a good look at a game-winning three in the final seconds but his attempt went off the rim.

• First year Morgan finished with a career-best 26 points, going 11-16 from the floor while also finishing with five rebounds, five steals and four assists.
• Morgan reached double figures for the sixth time in eight games.
• Green narrowly missed a double-double, posting 18 points and eight boards, reaching double figures in scoring for the sixth time in nine contests.
• Dixon had a season-best 12 points, going 6-7 at the free throw line and 3-6 from the field.
• Lichti added nine points, going 4-9 from the floor.
• Goucher matched its season-best in shooting, going 31-63 (49.2%) and going 4-12 behind the arc and 14-22 at the free throw line.  The Gophers shot 56.3% over the final 20 minutes.
• Washington College was 50% (18-36) in the first half, including 11-23 (47.8%) behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes, and shot 48.3% overall and 14-33 from three.
• The Shoremen went just 12-22 at the free throw line.
• The guests outrebounded Goucher 37-33.
• The Gophers held a 19-4 lead in fast break points on the afternoon while committing just 10 turnovers, its second-lowest total of the season.

MBB | John Dixon finds Brandon Joseph in traffic for the two-handed slam in the first half. @Goucher_MBB nearly erased a 20-point second half deficit before falling 82-80.#d3hoops #GopherGreatness #GoucherProud pic.twitter.com/tGl4RNo5SJ

— Goucher Gophers (@GoucherSports) December 10, 2022

• Goucher is idle until Monday, December 19 when the Gophers travel to Cabrini for a 2 pm tip.
• The Gophers are back home on Friday, January 13, hosting Drew at 4 pm at the Decker Sports and Recreation Center.