WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Gallaudet University men's basketball team fell just shy of attaining sole possession of the program's single-season wins record with Sunday's tough loss against North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) opponent Wells College. The 84-80 defeat puts the Bison (16-9, 12-6 NEAC) in fourth place in the NEAC behind Wells (14-11, 13-5), SUNYIT (14-10, 13-5) and conference leader Penn State University-Harrisburg (14-10, 14-4).
Wells got off to a strong start outscoring GU 46-36 in the first half. Though the Bison battled back in the second half, they trailed for the entire time; the final four-point deficit was the closest they ever came to overtaking the Express in the second half.
Though GU did not win the game, it was an opportunity to celebrate the careers of senior guards Bobby Siebert (St. Paul, Minn.) and Luther Weedon (Walkersville, Md.). Each year, the last regular-season home game is designated as Senior Day as the players and their families are honored in a short pre-game ceremony. Siebert was a solid all-around role player for the Bison; in four years with the Buff and Blue, he had 135 points, 77 rebounds, 75 assists and 27 steals. His best season came in 2009-10 when he racked up 99 points, 57 rebounds, 40 assists and 19 steals in 24 contests. He also made 18 of his 24 career 3-point shots that season and was named an Academic All-District honoree by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Overall, Siebert appeared in 81 games for GU. Weedon will be remembered as a 3-point sharpshooter, with over 72 percent of his 395 career points at Gallaudet coming from behind the arc. In his three years at GU, Weedon played in 43 games and was a 40 percent shooter from 3-point range.
Weedon put on a prolific shooting display in his last regular season game as he scored 24 points where 18 of them came on three-point shots. Sophomore forward Danny Kelly (Walkersville, Md.) also had a strong day for the Bison. He grabbed six rebounds and went 8-for-11 on field goal attempts to net a total of 18 points. Junior guard Tony Tatum (Gardendale, Ala.) also contributed 10 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
Forward Terry Harrison led the way for the Express with 22 points, three rebounds and four steals, while guard Dave Folz contributed 18 points and three rebounds. Wells shot nearly 60 percent from the floor for the game. The hard-fought matchup was contentious at times as the teams played a physical game and accumulated 51 fouls.
As the No. 1 seed, Penn St.-Harrisburg will host the conference tournament this weekend. The Bison are slated to take on either SUNY Cobleskill or Morrisville State College in their opening game on Friday. The conference will announce official seeds and game times on Monday. Gallaudet is 2-0 against Morrisville State this season as they beat the Mustangs 83-64 at home on January 15 and 85-77 in Morrisville, N.Y. two weeks later. The Buff and Blue split their home-and-away series with Cobleskill. GU lost 83-75 in New York on January 9 and won 69-63 at the Field House on January 22.