McHenry, MD – Sophomore wing Kam Heathington scored a game-high 17 points Saturday night as the Garrett College men's basketball team beat visiting Harford Community College, 86-69, to snap a five-game losing streak.

"When the schedule comes out, you look at those [last five games] and you know that's a tough stretch," said GC head coach Matt McCullough, whose Lakers improved to 14-8. "We put ourselves in position to win four out of those five games, but we didn't execute well enough on either end of the court."

The Lakers had a three-point loss to region-leading Montgomery College and an overtime setback against second-place Howard Community College during that five-game skid. McCullough said the execution that was missing during the losing streak was a key to beating Harford.

"We played some pretty good possessions that ended with them [the Owls] making contested threes," said McCullough. "But there was no panic from our guys – we just did what we'd been working on in practice and executed our game plan instead of going one-on-one."

Antonio Adams (16 points, eight rebounds), Gavin Jackson (14 points), and Keyonta Johnson (13 points) also reached double figures in GC's balanced offensive attack. Point guard Carmello Myles added eight points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.

The Lakers, who had a 40-34 halftime lead, got five points from Jackson during a 7-2 spurt to open the second half that gave GC a 47-36 advantage. Jackson, who had 10 of his 14 points in the second half, buried a 3-pointer with 14:20 to play as the Lakers opened up a 58-43 lead.

Harford pulled within 75-67 with 3:34 to play as Krisofer Peet (team-high 16 points) hit a layup off an offensive rebound. Garrett, however, finished the game on an 11-2 run in which five different Lakers scored.

Amare Curtis scored 13 points while Zach Kirk and Junior Tutuwan added 10 points each for Harford (8-14).

"It was nice to see the work our guys have been putting in at practice translate into today's performance," said McCullough. "They were very resilient. We've made a lot of improvement in our play."

PHOTO CUTLINE

Antonio Adams, who had 16 points and eight rebounds, takes a shot Saturday night during Garrett College's 86-69 men's basketball victory over Harford Community College. GC's Carmello Myles (eight points, 10 rebounds, five assists) is also pictured.