CCRI ROUNDUP

Knights hold off late Quinsigamond surge, get back in win column

Posted 1/16/14

The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team traveled to Worcester, Mass. to play the Wyverns of Quinsigamond Community College for a Region XXI non-league game. The Knights defeated the Wyverns …

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CCRI ROUNDUP

Knights hold off late Quinsigamond surge, get back in win column

Posted

The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team traveled to Worcester, Mass. to play the Wyverns of Quinsigamond Community College for a Region XXI non-league game. The Knights defeated the Wyverns 77-70. With the victory, the Knights improved to 14-7 and 7-2 in Region XXI play.

The Knights blew the game open early in the second half and had a 19-point lead, 59-40 with 12:52 to play in the game. The Wyverns kept pushing though, and began to hit their three-point shots and cut the lead to six, 70-64, with 4:19 left. CCRI was able to hit clutch free throws and a couple of key baskets to ice the victory.

The Knights were led by captain Pat Marchand (Cranston), who charted a monster double-double scoring a game-high 17 points while ripping down 16 rebounds and adding two blocked shots. He was joined in the double-digit scoring column by Malieke Young (Providence) with 15 points, including three three-pointers, and captain Anthony Jernigan (East Hartford, Conn.), who had 12 points, eight assists and five steals. Rounding out the Knights’ attack was captain Anthony Henry (Danbury, Conn.), who had 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots, while Elijah Okagbare (Atlanta, Ga.) added nine points and six rebounds.

The next game for the Knights will be Saturday when they host the Knights of Globe Institute from New York at 2 p.m. at the Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse. Following the Knights’ game will be the 2014 CCRI High School Shootout, featuring three games of top teams from New England. At 4:30 p.m. Charlestown High School (Mass.) will face Prout, led by freshman Thomas Murphy. At 6 p.m., New London High School (Conn.) will face Classical High School led by Rhode Island’s top senior Kealen Ives and at 7:30 p.m. Ledyard High School (Conn.) will face Bishop Hendricken, led by freshman Justin Mazzulla.

Strong second half lifts Monroe over Knights

 

The Knights fell to nationally ranked Division I Monroe College 82-59 Sunday night on the second day of the CCRI Invitational.

The Knights looked to be in good shape, storming out to a 29-12 lead near the midway point of the first half. During that run, Young had eight points for the Knights, including two three-pointers. However, Monroe battled back to cut their deficit to just two points, as the Knights took a 37-35 lead into the half.

The Mustangs continued their strong play into the second half, outscoring the Knights 47-22. Thanks in large part to upping their defensive intensity, Monroe was able to force the Knights into quick shots and to commit several turnovers.

“This game was a tale of two halves,” CCRI head coach Rick Harris said. “We came out totally focused and intense to start the game and that showed in our first half performance. Unfortunately, we were not able to sustain that intensity in the second half. You have to give credit to Monroe too. They are a big, strong, talented team that is battle-tested in tight ball games and they simply refused to lose.” 

The Knights were led by Rob Skinner (Winsted, Conn.), who finished with a team-high 14 points. Young was right behind him with 13 points, while Henry and Jernigan finished with 10 points apiece.

Jackson leads Lady Knights over Monroe

 

The CCRI Lady Knights basketball team hosted the Mustangs of Monroe College from New Rochelle, N.Y. for their final game in the 2014 CCRI Basketball Invitational on Sunday. The Lady Knights fought back from a late 11-point deficit to defeat the Mustangs 92-84 in overtime. With the victory, the Lady Knights improved to 10-5 on the season. 

The Lady Knights and Mustangs battled back-and-forth in the first half, exchanging the lead. CCRI took a quick 17-11 lead early in the game, but the Mustangs answered back and took a 21-20 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half. They both took turns with the lead throughout the rest of the first half before going into the break tied 41-41. 

The teams remained deadlocked 48-48 with 16:37 left in the game. However, that’s when Monroe began to pull away for the Lady Knights and took an 11-point lead 74-63 with just 4:53 remaining in the game. 

But the Lady Knights were not done.

They got consecutive three-pointers by captain Ahnyyah Jackson (Hackensack, N.J.), Jesse Ossian (Chandler, Ariz.) and Jess Patalano (Exeter) to cut the Mustang lead to 78-76.  Ossian scored another basket with just 45.6 remaining to tie the game. The Lady Knights got a stop on the defensive end to get the ball back and Ossian was fouled and sank both free throws to give CCRI the narrow 80-78 lead with about 20 seconds left.  With just 9.4 left on the clock, Tiara Brown made a basket and was fouled to make the score 80-80, but missed the free throw. CCRI missed a last second three-pointer, and the game went to overtime. 

In the extra session, the Lady Knights scored first on two free throws from Jackson. Brown answered for Monroe to tie the score 82-82. On their next two possessions, the Lady Knights three-pointers from captain Allexia Barros (New Bedford, Mass.) and Jackson to take an 88-82 lead, and the team sank their free throws down the stretch to clinch the win.

Leading the way for the Lady Knights was Jackson, with her best game in a Lady Knights’ uniform. She had a career-high in points with 34, in three-pointers with seven on 7-of-10 from the three-point arc and in rebounds with 10. 

Also helping CCRI was Barros with 22 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals. Ossian added 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and a key steal late in the game. Rounding out the CCRI attack was Amber Edwards (Boston, Mass.) with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Patalano added 11 points, including three three-pointers at key moments of the game.

The next game for the Lady Knights will be Saturday when they host the Colts of Orange County Community College at 12 p.m.

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