GBC, which was picked to finish second in the six-team Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division, returns 12 players from the 2009-10 team that won a school record 19 games and advanced to the CACC Finals. All that separated the Lightning from their first CACC championship and an NCAA Tournament berth was five points, an 84-79 loss to Felician.
With the addition of University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) transfer Rich Flemming at forward and incoming freshman guard A.J. Picard out of Souderton Area H.S., the Lightning look to make another CACC playoff run in 2010-11.
The Lightning also return three valuable seniors in forward Terrence Parkes (2nd Team All-CACC), point guard Manny Ellegood (No. 1 in the CACC in three-pt. FG pct., .490) and guard/forward Sam McDuffie (school’s 5th all-time leading scorer).
Hammond has taken GBC to the CACC playoffs the last four straight years. He inherited a team that had gone 1-23 the season before he took over in 2003-04. After three rebuilding seasons, Hammond has turned the Lightning into a CACC power, going 79-62 over the last five seasons, including two quarterfinals, one semifinal and one final appearance.
Under Hammond, GBC is 3-4 in season-openers, losing last year’s opening home tip-off game to West Chester.
The Ravens finished the 2009-10 season with a 12-15 overall record and a 7-15 mark in the Northeast-10 conference. They return last year’s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder in 6-foot-2, 210 lb. senior guard Kinard Dozier (15.2 ppg). Last year Dozier was honored on the NE-10’s Third All-Conference team.
Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Joseph West Jones Center. Fans can also view a live webcast of the game with play-by-play and analysis from second-year announcer Chris DiGiacomo. There will be a link available on the calendar on the right of the website.
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