Campus News
February 5th, 2024
PSC rally ends 4-game Laker win streak
Vilsaint scores 28 off bench as Catamount men erase 10-point deficit
Keyser, WV – Catamount reserve Rodney Vilsaint scored 28 points Saturday afternoon as Potomac State College of West Virginia University erased a 10-point, second-half deficit to snap Garrett College's four-game men's basketball winning streak, 91-83.
GC, playing without injured leading scorer Alex Vargo, took its biggest lead at 66-56 on a 3-pointer by Rob Smith (16 points, nine rebounds). The Catamounts, however, took a 77-73 lead with an 11-0 run climaxed by a Vilsaint layout with 5:24 remaining.
GC used layups by Nate Washington (team-high 22 points) and Steve Robinson (16 points, 10 rebounds, four assists) to pull into a 77-77 tie. PSC then took the lead for good as Daniel Charlot (22 points, 12 rebounds) hit a layup with exactly 4 minutes remaining.
Charlot then split a pair of free throws and Kellen Tyson drained a 3-pointer as PSC (8-11) built an 83-77 cushion.
"We were playing well to get up by 10 without Alex," said GC head coach Matt McCullough, noting Vargo missed the contest with an ankle sprain. "We run a lot of our offense through Alex and without him everybody's role changed.
"Ultimately their depth and ability to hurt us inside down the stretch were keys to their comeback," McCullough said of the Catamounts.
Vargo, who is averaging 24.4 points per game on 55 percent shooting from the field, is expected back for Saturday's 3 p.m. game against visiting Howard Community College.
K'Shawn Scott contributed 12 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers (12-9), who had won seven of their previous eight contests. GC 135, Westmoreland 58
McHenry, MD – Gavin Jackson scored a game-high 31 points and dished out seven assists last Wednesday night as all eight Lakers who played scored at least nine points while GC rolled to its fourth straight win.
Jackson shot 12-of-21 from the field with seven 3-pointers.
"Gavin shot it well – and we shot really well as a team," said GC head coach Matt McCullough after the Lakers made nearly 66 percent of their field-goal attempts, including 50 percent from the 3-point line.
"We came out and approached the game the right way," added McCullough, whose squad had beaten Westmoreland by 56 points in November. "We were able to execute. Our defensive rotations were good. We got a lot of steals that led to easy baskets early in the game."
Garrett built a 74-17 halftime lead while completing a home-and-home sweep of the Wulf Pack. K'Shawn Scott (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Stephen Robinson (11 points, 20 rebounds) posted double-doubles and Alex Vargo contributed 23 points for the Lakers.
Kydale Staten (nine rebounds, four assists) scored 18 points, Nate Washington (six assists, three steals) chipped in 13 points, and Rob Smith had 11 points, six rebounds, and seven assists for GC. Carson Harris just missed double figures with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting.
Brandon Fetter scored a team-high 21 points for Westmoreland. The Lakers swept the two games against Westmoreland by a total of 134 points.
