ERIE, Pa. – The Gannon men's basketball team entered its home opener on a min-roll, and that streak continued with a season-high scoring effort before the home fans.
Ernest Shelton (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) scored 23 points and
Tasman Goodrick (Sydney, Australia/St. Joseph's College) added 22 to lead six Golden Knights in double figures as GU opened its home schedule with a convincing 110-77 victory over Davis & Elkins at Hagerty Family Events Center. The team is playing its home games at Joann Mullen Gymnasium until the renovations are completed at GU's Highmark Events Center in January.
Coach
Easton Bazzoli's Gannon team won its third in a row to improve to 3-2. The Knights opened the season on the road at back-to-back tournaments – the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Florida and the PSAC-CIAA Challenge in Virginia.
Gannon hit the century mark for the second consecutive game and is now averaging 97.2 points per game.
How it happened:
The game was back-and-forth for the first nine minutes when as GU held a 21-19 lead. Shelton made one 3-pointer and
Justin DeBuck (Broward County, Fla./Pembroke Pines Charter) hit two 3's in a row to give Gannon a 30-21 lead with 9 minutes to go in the first half.
A few minutes later, Shelton and Goodrick combined on a nine-point run as Gannon quicky increased a 30-25 lead to 39-25. Eventually, Goodrick sank a layoff at the buzzer to give GU a 53-40 lead.
After Davis & Elkins closed to within 55-46 with 18:27 remaining, Gannon went on a 10-0 spurt to take a 65-46 lead. Gannon eventually hit the 100-point mark on
Pace Prosser's (Berlin, Pa./Berlin Brothersvalley) 3-pointer with 4:46 remaining as GU built a 102-73 lead.
By the numbers:
Gannon shot an impressive 51.2 percent from the field, including 41.6 percent (15-of-36) from 3-point range.
Shelton, a 6-foot-4 sophomore shooting guard, made 7-of-11 from long range.
Goodrick, a 6-9 sophomore post player, sank 9-of-13 field-goal attempts and all four of his free-throw tries on his way to 22 points. He also tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.
Prosser connected on 7-of-11 field-goal tries, including two 3-pointers, for 16 points.
Lucas Sekasi (Washington, DC/Jackson-Reed) scored 13 points,
Mason Kemp (Shawnee, Kan./Mill Valley) contributed 12, and DeBuck added 11.
Prosser and Sekasi paced GU with five assists each.
Isiah Warfield (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) made his debut with Gannon after missing the first four games with an injury. The 6-foot-5 transfer from Howard University started, played 18 minutes, and had three points and four rebounds.
What's ahead:
Gannon will travel to West Virginia to take on Salem on Saturday at 4 p.m.
