North East, MD – Garrett College didn't have high-scoring guard/forward Alex Vargo available for Sunday's conference game at Cecil College. Fortunately for the Lakers, Jhaiden Wilson was ready to take up the slack.
Wilson scored a game-high 34 points – including 28 in the second half – as the GC men's basketball team topped host Cecil College, 95-87, to again reach .500. Wilson's performance allowed the sophomore guard to take over the team scoring lead with a 22.7 points-per-game average compared to Vargo's 22.6 points-per-contest.
"That was a good win," said GC's third-year head coach, Matt McCullough, who notched his first victory over the perennial contender Seahawks. "Without Vargo . . . that really speaks volumes about our team's resiliency."
McCullough noted that "Cecil is a hard place to win."
"[Cecil] Coach [Ed] Durham is one of the best coaches in the league," said McCullough. While the Seahawks dropped to 3-7 overall and 0-4 in the league, McCullough predicted, "They'll figure it out. They'll be a team that's tough come January and February."
Wilson made 8-of-17 field-goal attempts, include five treys, and was 13-for-16 at the foul line for GC (5-5 overall, 1-1 league). Nate Washington hit 7-of-11 field-goal attempts while scoring 18 points while Antwan Gross (14 points, 15 rebounds) and Daytwan Johnson (13 points, 10 rebounds) notched double-doubles for the Lakers.
GC shot an even 50 percent from the field and nearly 70 percent from the foul line while snapping a two-game losing streak.
Deuce Bevins II scored a team-high 18 points for Cecil.
Cecil was within 37-36 before the Lakers finished the first half with a 6-2 run thanks to late layups from Johnson, Washington, and K'Shawn Scott.
GC was holding a slim, 55-53 lead before the Lakers broke the game open with a 10-0, second-half run in which Wilson scored half the points.
"It all kind of clicked for him [Wilson] in the second half," said McCullough. "He just hit big shot after big shot for us, including at the free-throw line."
The Lakers' win over Cecil followed an 82-81 loss to Baltimore City Community College.
"Baltimore City was a tough one – we let a nine-point lead slip away," said McCullough, adding that his team appeared to learn from that experience. "Against Cecil, we always seemed to have an answer when they made a run. It was a good win."
The Lakers play at Montgomery College Wednesday (7:30 p.m.) and at Prince George's Community College Saturday (3 p.m.) before hosting the Davis & Elkins University junior varsity Sunday at 2 p.m.
