The CCRI men’s basketball team clinched a playoff berth with an 88-76 win over Massasoit on Saturday. The Knights improved to 17-10 and upped their region record to 10-3. Thursday’s game against Dean will decided which team hosts the Region XXI championship game.

The Knights were propelled by sophomore guard Kevin Marmolejos (Queens, N.Y.), who poured in a season-high 23 points, including 11 in the first half to help give the Knights a 44-31 lead at the half. Sophomore co-captain Pat Marchand (Cranston) was also a main contributor, dominating in the paint with 14 first half points and a team-high 21 for the game.

The Knights stifled Massasoit defensively, forcing them to take tough shots all game. As a result, Massasoit was just 6-of-18 from three-point range.

“This was a great team victory produced by exceptional defense,” head coach Rick Harris said. “We came out ready to play aggressively and stop their outside shooting, which is their strength. Our guys did exactly that and got Massasoit to take long jump shots with a hand in their face every time. On the other end, we pounded the ball inside and scored at will at times.”  

Sophomore point guard Anthony Jernigan (East Hartford, Conn.) had the game’s lone double-double with 10 points and 10 assists. Rudy Brito (Pawtucket) also had a good game for the Knights, getting in double-figures with 12 points and pulling down eight rebounds.  

Massasoit was paced by Antonio Ferreira, who led three players in double-figures with 25 points. Anthony Rivers also filled up the stat sheet with 18 points, six assists, five rebounds, and three steals for Massasoit.

Lady Knights top

Warriors, Bees

The CCRI women’s team also beat Massasoit on Saturday, winning 72-63. The Lady Knights went on to another win Tuesday, blowing past Bristol Community College 98-46 to improve to 15-7 overall.

Leading the way for the Lady Knights against Massasoit was Amber Edwards (Boston) with a big double-double of a game-high 19 points with 12 rebounds and two assists. Edwards was helped by co-captain Allexia Barros (New Bedford, Mass.) with 18 points, including four 3-pointers and nine rebounds while adding five assists, two steals and a career-high three blocked shots. Also helping CCRI was co-captain Ahnyyah Jackson (Hackensack, N.J.) with 16 points, a game-high nine assists and six rebounds. Jess Winegar (Cranston) added nine points on three 3-pointers.   

Against Bristol, Edwards again led the charge with a game-high 26 points. Jackson just missed a triple-double with 22 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

Barros scored 21 points and made four three-pointers, which gave her the CCRI career and single-season record for threes. In addition, Barros jumped from No. 5 to No. 3 on the CCRI all-time scoring list on Tuesday with 920 career points passing Denise Scott (’08) and Claudia DeFaria (’92).  

Rounding out the CCRI attack was Jesse Ossian (Chandler, Ariz.) with 12 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three assists. Winegar had 11 points, including three 3-pointers.

Track teams come up

big at BU 

The CCRI men’s and women’s track teams traveled to Boston University for the Dave Hemerey Valentine Invitational and delivered some of their best performances of the season.

In the 60m dash Shenelle Teixeira (Barrington) placed 89th out of 110 athletes with a time of 8.48 seconds. Teondra Silva (Barrington) placed 101st with her season-best effort of 8.67 seconds. Teixeira came back to run a season-best time in the 200m dash, placing 116th out of 212 athletes with a time of 26.78 seconds. Silva also came back to place 177th with a season-best time of 27.72 seconds in the 200m.

Haley Beausoleil (Plainfield, Conn.) placed 111th in the 400m with a season best time of 1 minute, 1.31 seconds out of 169 athletes in the race. Beausoleil also ran a season-best in the 200m with a 153rd place in a time of 27.72 seconds.

For the Knights, Samson Olowoporoku (Osun State, Nigeria) ran a career-best time in the 200m, placing 152nd out of 232 sprinters in the 200m dash in 23.44 seconds. Joshua Rembert (Boston) also ran the 200m in a season-best effort of 23.84 seconds, which was good for 186th place. Both men won their individual heats.

Olowoporoku and Rembert both ran the 400m in season-best efforts with Olowoporoku placing 130th out of 195 athletes with a time of 52.07 seconds while winning his heat. Rembert placed 155th in a time of 52.85 seconds.

Daniel Duquette (North Attleboro, Mass.) placed 171st out 233 men in the 800m with a time of 2 minutes, 1.60 seconds. Britton Laney (Pascoag) placed 227th with a career-best effort time in the 800m run of 2:14.51. Keven Redmond (South Kingstown) threw his career-best toss in the shot put with an 11.99 meter effort that placed him 53rd and Colin Cabral (Cumberland, RI) placed 48th out of 70 competitors with a throw of 12.48m.

Also at the Valentine Invite, CCRI alumnus Bobby Allen – who now runs for UMass-Lowell – came even closer to breaking the 4-minute mark in the mile run. He placed 10th with a new UMass-Lowell record of 4:00.35. Allen was 10th overall of 301 milers and was the fourth fastest collegiate runner.

CCRI’s Wiley to

receive honor

CCRI Compliance Officer and Rhode Island Amateur Softball Association Commissioner Bev Wiley will receive the Amby Smith Lifetime Achievement Award at the 68th annual Words Unlimited banquet on Sunday. Words Unlimited, the statewide organization of sports writers, sportscasters and sports publicists, will hold its 68th annual Sports Awards Banquet at 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, February 16 at The Radisson on Post Road in Warwick.

There are few individuals in Rhode Island who have been involved in sports on more levels than Wiley. The list of her involvement includes being the Rhode Island commissioner of the Amateur Softball Association; serving as the public address announcer for Brown University athletics; working as compliance officer at the Community College of Rhode Island; being involved with the Women’s Sports Foundation; serving as president of the Rhode Island Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women; officiating high school and college volleyball; and serving as a member of the Advisory Board for the Rhode Island Sports Commission.

In addition to her sports involvement, she also is on the board of directors at School One and a trustee with the Community College of Rhode Island Foundation. She served on the advisory board of the Providence After School Alliance (PASA) and has worked as the summer recreation director for the town of Foster, R.I., among many other community activities.

Wiley coached the CCRI softball program from 1999 to 2009 and built the Lady Knights into a New England powerhouse. Wiley is the winningest softball coach in CCRI history.  

Wiley left coaching after the 2009 season for a new role at CCRI. Her previous work as an advisor in the Athletic Department Student-Athlete Academic Support Program (SAASP) groomed her to become the college’s first-ever compliance officer. She is responsible for monitoring compliance for all NJCAA rules and regulations in the areas of eligibility, grants in aid, recruiting and academic standards while also coordinating all aspects of the SAASP. In addition, she is responsible for monitoring procedures to ensure compliance with Title IX and gender equity for the Athletic Department and serving as academic adviser for 225 student-athletes in 16 varsity sports.

In 1997, along with other local women business leaders, she started GirlsRI (Girls and Women in Rhode Island Love Sports) to foster the growth and recognition of girls and women in sports in the community. GirlsRI provides awareness, opportunity and education in all areas of sports and physical fitness, while increasing access to financial grants and awards for local athletes and sports groups.