By: Bailey Clark, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga.- Georgia College & State University Men's Basketball (4-7, 0-2 PBC) took a tough 67-64 home loss to the University of Auburn at Montgomery (6-7, 4-5 GSC) in a physical Thursday night contest. 

The Bobcats took their first lead of the contest in the first two minutes of the contest on a monstrous dunk from the big post player Austin Sloan (Warner Robins). The Warhawks and the Bobcats went back and forth for a majority of the first half. After a couple of made free throws by Luke Chism (Dawsonville), GCSU went up by seven. Right before the half the two squads were neck and neck when AUM made a last second layup to tie up the contest at 32 apiece. 

Coming out of the half Chism put the Bobcats in front by a three point bucket. The Warhawks matched the basket to bring the contest back to a tie. After a missed shot by GCSU, AUM got the ball on the defensive rebound and scored on the fast break to take a lead they would never give up. 

The Bobcat offense had two double-digit scorers on the night in Chism and Sloan. Chism led the charge with 13 points going 2-for-3 from behind the three-point arc and 5-for-7 from the free-throw line. Sloan was right behind him icing 12 points as the team's second leading scorer. Half of his points came from behind the arc as he went 2-for-4. There were two Bobcat shooters just scraping the surface both having nine points apiece. Zyair Greene (Lithonia) and Brendan Rigsbee (Suwanee) both banked nine points to round off the offense. 

There were no double digit rebounds on the night for the Bobcats. Chism led the rebounding effort like he led the scoring. He nabbed seven rebounds with six coming under the Warhawks basket. To round out the leading rebounders with six apiece was Sloan and Chris Parks (Buford). Sloan and Parks were both heavy on the defensive rebounds with 11 of their 12 coming under the AUM basket. 

The Bobcats will suit back up after the new year and resume conference play. GCSU will take on No. 12 Augusta University in the Centennial Center on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Live stats and broadcast links will be available at GCBobcats.com for the 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

As a proud recipient of the 2021 PBC Sportsmanship Institution of the Year, the Georgia College Department of Athletics sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. GC Athletics is now two-time winners of both the PBC Commissioner's Cup and the league's sportsmanship honor. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' continued appearances in postseason competition as well as high-level academic success and community-service involvement. Bobcat Athletics embodies the mantra of "Graduating Champions for Life." Sign up at @GCSUBobcats on all social media outlets for up-to-the-minute reports.