CCRI ROUNDUP

Knights grab victory over NAPS in OT thriller

Posted 2/26/15

The CCRI men’s basketball team hosted the Rams of the United States Naval Academy Preparatory School for its final regular season game at the Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse on Monday evening. The …

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CCRI ROUNDUP

Knights grab victory over NAPS in OT thriller

Posted

The CCRI men’s basketball team hosted the Rams of the United States Naval Academy Preparatory School for its final regular season game at the Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse on Monday evening. The Knights were able to close their home slate with a 93-86 overtime win. With the victory, CCRI ends the regular season with a record of 14-13. The Rams of NAPS fall to 8-10 with the loss.

CCRI sophomore tri-captain Anthony Jernigan (East Hartford, Conn.) connected on a 3-pointer at the buzzer that sent the game into overtime, as it tied the score 74-74. From there, sophomore tri-captain Malieke Young (Providence, R.I.) scored eight of his 20 points in overtime to propel the Knights to a thrilling 93-86 overtime victory.

The Rams closed out the first half with a 10-4 run to take a 42-33 lead into halftime. CCRI kept the score close in the second half, as Young sank a 3-pointer with 2:28 left to give the Knights a brief 71-70 lead. 

However, Navy Prep regained the lead and took a 74-71 lead on two free throws from Aaron Briggs. With 13.2 seconds left in the game, the Knights got the ball back and were able to tie the score as Jernigan sank a 3-pointer off the glass as the buzzer sounded, bringing the home crowd to their feet in excitement.

As the overtime period began, Young took over the game immediately, sinking a 3-pointer, followed by critical free throws. He scored eight of the Knights’ 19 overtime points to help CCRI out-score NAPS 19-12 in overtime to win by the final count of 93-86.

In a game of contrasting styles, the Knights inside-outside attack was just too much for the hot outside shooting attack of NAPS, who sank an incredible 18 3-pointers for the game – including an 8-for-11 performance from beyond the arc from Nate Messer.

Leading the way for the Knights was freshman center Grant Gillis (Jamestown, R.I.) with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Young charted a double-double with 20 points, including five 3-pointers and 10 rebounds.

Also helping the Knights was Jernigan, who scored 12 points and dished out six assists, while also hitting the heroic buzzer-beating trey.

Sophomore tri-captain Jerome Harris (Hartford, Conn.) had eight points and seven rebounds and a blocked shot. Freshman Marshall Nelson (Perth, Australia) added 10 points, including two 3-pointers and Mahda Brewah (Dover, Del.) added eight points and five rebounds.

“This was an excellent win for our team,” head coach Rick Harris said. “We played great defense when we needed to and we hit some big outside shots after pounding the ball inside to Gillis for most of the game. This should prepare us well for the region playoffs next Sunday.”

The next game for the Knights will be next Sunday, March 1, when they will face Region XXI rival Dean College (19-2) with the location and time to be determined. If Massasoit CC beats Dean College, there is a chance CCRI could host the Region XXI game on Sunday at the Cullen Fieldhouse in Warwick, R.I., with the time to be determined. However, if Dean wins, the game will be at Dean College in Franklin, Mass. with the time to be determined.  

Lady Knights handle Navy Prep

The CCRI Lady Knights’ basketball team hosted the Rams of the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) from Newport, R.I. on Monday evening. The Lady Knights defeated NAPS 60-46.  With the victory, the Lady Knights improved to 8-17 on the season.

The Lady Knights were out for revenge on NAPS, who had beaten them on Feb. 14 at Navy Prep, 55-48. 

CCRI and NAPS battled closely in the first ten minutes of the game, as CCRI took a 17-14 lead on a basket from freshman guard Lyric Artis (Albany, N.Y.), who led the Lady Knights with 10 first-half points. 

CCRI went on to close out the half with an impressive 12-5 run to go into the break leading by 10 points, with the score 29-19. In the second half, the Lady Knights would increase their lead to 15 points on a basket from Jennifer Cicero (West Greenwich, R.I.) to make the score 41-26. But NAPS would not go away, as they closed the CCRI lead to seven points on a 3-pointer by Caroline Lewandowski, making the score 44-37.

The Lady Knights maintained their composure and sank critical foul shots down the stretch to pull away and win by the final count of 60-46.

Leading the way for the Lady Knights was sophomore tri-captain LaShana Tolliver (Albany, N.Y.), who came off the bench to contribute in almost every offensive category, scoring a game-high 15 points with seven rebounds, five blocked shots, four steals and three assists. 

Also helping CCRI was tri-captain Amber Edwards (Boston, Mass.), who scored 11 points with four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot, while tri-captain Jesse Ossian (Chandler, Ariz.) added 10 points, six rebounds and two assists. Artis chipped-in with 10 points and seven rebounds, Cicero had eight points, while ripping down a career-high 14 rebounds with three steals and Haley Beausoleil (Plainfield, Conn.) added six points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. 

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