After two narrow losses in their past two games, the Georgia Northwestern Bobcats took out their frustrations in a big way at the Welch College Invitational in Nashville, Tenn. Over the weekend.
The Bobcats thumped St. Louis Christian on Friday night, 81-44, before whipping Appalachian Bible College in Saturday’s finale, 91-42, to improve to 2-4 overall on the season.
On Friday, Georgia Northwestern jumped out to a 19-4 lead just seven minutes in and never looked back. They carried a 51-20 lead into the locker room and extended their advantage in the second half, thanks to 57 percent shooting (15-of-26) from behind the 3-point line.
It was a balanced scoring night for the Navy-and-Silver. Sophomore Cody Cochran drained four treys and finished with 18 points to go with four steals. Ricky Cardoza had a career-high 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and grabbed eight rebounds. Cameron Sherlin had 12 points, four stealsand three assists, while Devin Watkins went for 10 points.
Other top contributors included Tyler Shropshire (9 points, 3 assists), Veshawn Bell (7 points, 4 assists), Garret McAllister (5 points, 5 assists) and Dustin Stanley (5 points, 10 rebounds, 1 block).
The Bobcats’ offense stayed hot on Saturday as another 19-4 first-half run gave them an early 20-points lead and they would take a 49-24 lead into intermission.
Five Bobcats got in double figures, paced by Shropshire, who scored 18 points on a 7-for-11 shooting night, including going 4-for-5 from 3-point range. The LaFayette High alum also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists.
Sherlin added 16 points, seven assists and three steals. Bell had 14 points, following by Cardoza with 11 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Watkins (10 ppoints, 2 steals), McAllister (9 points, 5 assists), Cochran (7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Stanley (6 points, 8 rebounds) also had a solid day for the Bobcats.
The Bobcats will host LaGrange College on Tuesday (Nov. 25) at 7 p.m. at the Rossville Athletic Center. The team will be honoring all veterans in attendance that night with free admission, recognition and a small gift during the evening.