By Justin Jarrett
LowcoSports.com
The Thanksgiving weekend was a promising one for USCB’s basketball teams, as the men earned a signature win as part of a sweep in North Carolina, while the women came away from a holiday tournament in Florida with a split, including a tough battle with an NCAA Division II Sweet 16 team from a year ago.
After a run to the Peach Belt Conference championship game last year, the Sand Sharks men (6-1) have their sights set on making the national tournament in their first year of eligibility, and they added to their resume with a thrilling 81-80 win over UNC Pembroke in a hostile environment Saturday.
Evan Kilminster’s runner off the glass beat the buzzer and lifted the Sand Sharks to a signature win after Dylan Lewis put up 19 points, seven rebounds, and five assists and Kilminster finished with 18 points and five dimes.
USCB kept the momentum rolling in a 104-74 rout of Ferrum College on Sunday, getting 22 points from Ismail Rashid and another 14 points and six boards from Lewis, along with a double-double from Hudson Norton.
The Sand Sharks women (3-4) blasted Barry 62-38 on Friday, as Lydia Gattozzi put up 13 points and Sami Bardonaro added 12 in a balanced effort, and USCB battled Eckerd to the finish in a 67-60 defeat Saturday despite 24 points and nine rebounds from Janiyah Heyward.
The Sand Sharks open Peach Belt play at USC Aiken on Wednesday before traveling to Middle Georgia for the teams’ first meetings as conference rivals on Saturday. USCB’s next home games are Wednesday, Dec. 10 against Augusta with the women’s tip-off at 5:30 p.m. and the men’s game to follow.
