The CCRI Men's basketball team hosted the Knights of Northern Essex CC of Haverhill, Mass. at the Vincent Cullen Fieldhouse Tuesday night in a Region XXI non-league contest. The CCRI Knights came away with a 90-72 victory, raising their record to 3-0 and 2-0 in Region XXI.

The game was wide-open in the first half and No. Essex's athleticism allowed them to penetrate into the lane and generate easy baskets in close. They took a 39-31 lead into halftime. CCRI turned the tide early in the second half, using its three-quarter court pressure defense, which created multiple turnovers and easy fast break baskets for the CCRI Knights.

The Knights were led by freshman point guards Billy Soriano (Providence) and Anthony Jernigan (East Hartford, Conn.). Soriano had 17 points while dishing out six assists with four rebounds and two steals. Jernigan added 17 points with three steals and three rebounds. Sophomore Pat Marchand (Cranston) had a double-double, scoring 14 points and ripping down 12 rebounds, and sophomore Anthony Henry (Danbury, Conn.) added 10 points, six rebounds and a steal to the Knights’ attack.

"Another team victory,” CCRI head coach Rick Harris said. “With good teams like ours, different players step up at different times to produce wins. We had that happen tonight against a good team."

The Knights host the Rams of Springfield Technical Community College tonight at 6 p.m. at the Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse for another Region XXI non-league game.

Knights defeat Roxbury CC in season opener

The CCRI Knights men's basketball team traveled to Roxbury Mass. to take on the Tigers of Roxbury Community College on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams as part of the Roxbury Tigers’ Invitational. The Knights came away with a 102-89 victory to start their season. 

The Knights’ offensive outburst was fueled by 10 three-pointers, including seven in the second half. After a close first half that saw the Knights take a nine-point lead into halftime with the at 48-37, they increased second half leads up to as many as 20 points. The Knights had all 14 players score in the game, led by sophomore Henry, who scored 19 points with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal. Henry was joined in the double-digits scoring by freshmen Omar Orriols (Boston, Mass.) and Malieke Young (Providence) who scored 14 points each, while combining for five three-pointers. Also making big contributions to the win were sophomore Marchand, who just missed a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds, and freshmen point guards Anthony Jernigan (Hartford, Conn.) with 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Soriano with had five points and four assists.

Lady Knights cruise past Central Maine CC 

The CCRI Lady Knights’ basketball team traveled to Auburn, Maine to play the Mustangs of Central Maine Community College for their season opener. The Lady Knights defeated the Mustangs 74-49. With the victory, CCRI begins the season 1-0.

Central Maine jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead as the Lady Knights shook off the opening game jitters and quickly answered with a three-pointer from captain Allexia Barros (New Bedford, Mass.) to cut the lead to 4-3 Mustangs. The Lady Knights would take their first lead 8-7 at the 15:52 mark on a lay-up by captain Alison Littles (Holyoke, Mass.) and they never looked back. The quickly extended their lead to 10 points and then took their largest lead of 11 points with the score 29-18 on a jumper from captain Ahnyyah Jackson (Hackensack, N.J.). CCRI took a 10-point lead into halftime 37-27.

In the second half, the Lady Knights kept the defensive pressure on the Mustangs and extended the lead to 16 points on a layup by freshman Ashley Malloy (Kensington, Conn.), making the score 51-36 with 11:43 remaining in the game and then cruised to the 25-point victory. 

Leading the way for the Lady Knights was Barros with 21 points – including three three-pointers – with five rebounds, four steals and four assists. Jackson had 19 points, also including three 3-pointers, with three steals, three assists and two blocked shots. Also helping CCRI was Malloy, who came off the bench to score 15 points with four rebounds. Jesse Ossian (Chandler, Ariz.) did a great job distributing the ball while scoring 10 points with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Littles added four points and a game-high 19 rebounds.

“We started off a little shaky but I could tell it was first game jitters,” said first-year head coach Brittany Brown. “I called an early time out so the ladies could compose themselves and from there we started rolling. Once we settled down the Lady Knights showed up to play and that’s all I can ask for.”

The Lady Knights will travel to Fredrick, Md. over the weekend to play in the Fredrick Community College Cougar Classic.  On Saturday, they play Frederick CC at 5 p.m. and Sunday they play Allegany College of Maryland at 1 p.m.  

Lady Knights to host volleyball district tournament

The CCRI Lady Knights volleyball team will be hosting the District L Division II Volleyball Championships this weekend. The tournament participants will be the CCRI Lady Knights (12-6) from Region XXI, the No. 11 ranked (NJCAA DII poll) Mustangs of Monroe College (31-6) from New Rochelle, N.Y. as Region XV champion, the Cougars of Genesee Community College from Batavia, N.Y. as Region III champion, and the Hawks of Delaware Technical Community College (25-2) from Dover, Delaware as the Region XIX champion. 

The tournament format will be double elimination best three-of-five match play. The schedule for the Women's Volleyball Districts is as follows:

Saturday

Monroe College vs. CCRI, 10 a.m.

Genesee CC vs. Delaware Tech CC, 12 p.m.

Losers from Game 1 and Game 2, 2 p.m.

Winners from Game 1 and Game 2, 4 p.m.

Sunday

Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 10 a.m.

Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 12 p.m.

If necessary game, 2 p .m.

Lady Knights to host Soccer District Tournament

The CCRI Lady Knights soccer team will be hosting the District E Division II Soccer Championships this weekend. The tournament participants will be the CCRI Lady Knights (10-6-1) as the Region XXI champion, the Lady Tribunes of Monroe Community College (13-4) from Rochester, N.Y. as the Region III champion, the Mustangs of Monroe College (11-1) from New Rochelle, N.Y. as the Region XV champion and the Wolverines Essex County College (10-1) from Trenton, N.J. out of Region XIX

The schedule for the Women's Soccer Districts is as follows:

Saturday

Monroe CC vs. CCRI, 10 a.m.

Monroe College vs. Essex, 1 p.m.

Sunday

Championship game, 12 p.m. (Home team determined by national rankings)