The Gogebic Community College Samsons used a huge fourth quarter to run past the St. Cloud Tech Cyclones on Saturday, 12/3 in St. Could, MN.  The Samsons outscored the Cyclones 19-3 in the final quarter and cruised to a 51-34 victory. 

The first quarter was past faced and both teams traded buckets early on. With just over two minutes to go in the quarter, with the score tied at 8, the Cyclones took control and went on a 7-0 run which forced GCC to call a time-out with 1:22 left.   This would be St. Cloud Tech's largest lead of the game.  Samson Kylee Hewitt responded with a bucket inside and then GCC's Emily Nelson blocked a Cyclone shot on the next possession, took it the length of the court, and fed fellow Samson Jasmine Redhouse with a pretty no-look pass for layup at the end of the quarter.  The Cyclones led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter. 

Although St. Could Tech scored inside to start the second quarter, GCC fired back with a 9-0 run fueled by three buckets inside from Nelson and a 3-pointer from Ida Bengtsson.  Despite an overall low-scoring quarter for both teams, the Samsons held on to the lead at halftime and went into the locker room up 23-22.  St. Cloud's defense affected GCC's offensive rhythm as the Samsons committed 16 first half turnovers.  

Both teams tightened up their defense in the third quarter as offense seemed to stall for the Samsons and Cyclones.  It was an evenly matched quarter with both teams only scoring 9 points each.  

The Samsons locked in to start the final quarter and GCC went on a 12-0 run to start the quarter and never looked back.  The Samsons length and size on defense really started to disrupt any rhythm the Cyclones were trying to establish.  GCC used their defensive prowess to fuel their fourth quarter offense, which was led by Hewitt, Nelson and Redhouse.  Outscoring the Cyclones 19-3 gave the Samsons a convincing 51-34 victory. 

Hewitt finished the game with 14 points and 9 rebounds.  Nelson had another double-double with 12 points and 17 rebounds, and Redhouse chipped in 11 points.  

GCC is at home for their next contest as they host Mesabi Range on Wednesday, December 7th.