When Coach Phil Gaffney was recruiting Montrel Goldston from Greensboro, North Carolina he told him if he came to Georgia Highlands we were going to do something special. Well tonight the 6′ 3 sophomore did just that, down by two with 16 seconds left, coach Gaffney called a timeout and drew the play up to get Goldston the shot hitting the game winning 3 point shot with 5 seconds remaining to stun # 3 nationally ranked Southern Idaho College 67-66 and send the Georgia Highlands College Chargers to the Elite Eight of the NJCAA National Championship Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.
The Chargers got behind early , down 11-4 , GHC battled back to cut the lead to 4 . Freshman Paris Ballinger came off the bench and provided the spark the Chargers needed scoring back to back baskets to cut the lead to 31-29 at the half.
The Chargers took their first lead of the night 36-35 on a Donovan Harris put back off the glass at the 19:16 mark of the second half. The Chargers extended their led to 44-40 on Doniel Dean’s lay up with 14:28 to go in regulation. the game was a back and fourth affair at this points with the teams trading baskets. Southern Idaho went up as many as 5 points down the stretch but GHC never gave up tying the game up at 64 with 1:21 to play. But once again Southern Idaho went up two 66-64. But on the next Charger possession Montrel Goldston hits the Shot to seal the win 67-66.
The Chargers were led by Montrel Goldston’s 13 points, Ty Toney and Terrance Thompson each had 11 points and Doniel Dean had 10 . The Chargers high pressure defense forced Southern Idaho to 26 turnovers.
GHC takes on the winner of the Hutchinson Kansas – Trinity Valley Texas winner. Game time 9:00pm EST.