Vanguards basketball season ends at conference tourney

The 2015-2016 season recently came to an end for the Vance-Granville Community College Vanguards men’s basketball team with a loss in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Region X tournament, the first two rounds of which were held at Richard Bland College in Petersburg, Va.

VGCC ended the regular season with a 4-13 record in conference play, making the Vanguards the ninth seed in the 11-team tournament field. Just as they had in 2015, VGCC faced off against the Eagles of Wake Tech Community College in the first round. But unlike last season, when the Vanguards bested the Eagles, VGCC lost to the number-eight seed by a score of 97-88 on Feb. 27. Wake Tech went on to fall to top-seeded Louisburg College in the second round.

That disappointing end to the season did not diminish the outstanding athletic performances that fans witnessed from the Vanguards this year. Raekwon Hall of Raleigh finished his sophomore season as VGCC’s leader in points per game, with 19.2. His fellow sophomore, Tyrek Beverly of Oxford, was second, with 15.6 points per game. Freshman Ty’Quon Reid of Durham scored 14.4 points per contest.

Donal Gooch of Raleigh, also a freshman, stood out in rebounding, leading the Vanguards with 6.7 rebounds per game. Sophomores Alcyone Moore of Charlotte and Tyrek Beverly put up 4.3 and 4.2 rebounds per game, respectively. 

Hall led his team in assists per game (4.1). Reid made 2.1 steals per game to lead in that category. Gooch, the tallest member of the squad (at 6'8”), also blocked 1.9 shots per game.

As a team, VGCC ended the season ranked ninth in the nation in free throw percentage (74.1%).