Campus News
January 27th, 2026
Laker men win twice, get back to .500
McCullough: Remaining region games 'starred' as stretch run begins
Cory Harper
The Lakers are back to even.
Donovahn Keyes (four assists) scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the second half Friday night as the Garrett College men's basketball team pulled away from visiting Butler County Community College, 82-61. GC's second straight win evened the Lakers' overall record at 8-8 two days after a 71-66 victory over CCBC-Catonsville squared their NJCAA Division II Region 20 mark at 3-3.
Garrett head coach Matt McCullough said the Lakers are laser-focused on their seven remaining regional contests.
"We've kind of starred those last seven region games," said McCullough. "A lot of our players came back this year to compete in the region, and that's our focus."
Lenny Smith scored 14 points, Cory Harper added 13, and Dechaun Reed contributed nine points in a balanced GC attack. Keyonta Johnson (four assists) and Nehemiah Johnson (11 rebounds) each scored eight points, and Josh Evander chipped in with seven points.
GC – which has lost several key players during the course of the season – was playing an opponent Friday night that was missing its most important player. The Pioneers (10-7) played without sophomore Nicholas DelGratta, who is averaging 29 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 15 games.
"He's had a really nice year for them," McCullough said of DelGratta.
The Pioneers certainly could have used DelGratta after bagging just 23 made field-goal attempts against Garrett.
Will Huckabone's 3-pointer gave GC an early 11-4 lead, but Ivan Zhivkov drained a pair of treys during an 11-5 response as the Pioneers pulled within 16-15. GC, however, regained momentum with a 17-4 surge that was sparked by Harper's eight points, which included consecutive 3-pointers to start the run.
The Lakers, who had a 40-25 lead at intermission, nailed six 3-pointers to three by their guests during the first half. Harper and Smith each had eight points during the opening half while Reed added seven.
Evan Bates' layup capped a quick, 6-2 run to open the second half and pull the Pioneers within 42-31. Once again, however, the Lakers had the answer. Harper started and ended a 10-4 string with baskets, punctuating the spree with a 3-pointer off a Reed kickout that made it 52-35 with 14:28 remaining.
GC stretched the lead to 21 points when Josh Evander's floater made it 60-39.
Butler used full-court press to good effect, whittling its deficit to 62-51 on two Bates free throws with7:20 remaining. Keyes, however, buried a 3-pointer to stop the run, and Nehemiah Johnson hit a layup as GC rebuild the lead to 16 points.
"We thought they were going to press us the full game," McCullough said of a Butler squad that was averaging 104 points per game. "They kind of caught us by surprise – we were thinking we were going to see it [the press] from the jump ball. Once we settled into it, we were able to attack the press the way we had prepared to attack it."
Bates led all scorers with 22 points, including 15 in the second half.
McCullough said the key to his team's future success will be executing the basics.
"We need to make sure we're doing the little things – boxing out, containing penetration, closing out," McCullough said.
GC 71, Catonsville 66
Nehemiah Johnson had a massive double-double with 18 points and 18 rebounds last Wednesday night as the Lakers overcame Catonsville down the stretch.
"We found a way to bounce back and get a crucial region win," said GC head coach Matt McCullough, whose squad was coming off an 81-61 loss at Prince George's Community College. "The Catonsville win was really big for us."
GC's Keyonta Johnson had 16 points, eight rebounds, and four assists for GC. Lenny Smith (six rebounds) contributed 12 points and six rebounds off the bench for GC while Donovahn Keyes (four rebounds, three assists) and Cory Harper each had nine points.
