CCRI ROUNDUP

CCRI tames No. 5 Nassau CC

Posted 1/25/17

The CCRI men's basketball team traveled to Garden City, New York, to take on Nassau Community College on Saturday. The Knights did not start great, but were able to make a comeback and come home with a win. The victory improves the Knights' record to

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CCRI ROUNDUP

CCRI tames No. 5 Nassau CC

Posted

The CCRI men’s basketball team traveled to Garden City, New York, to take on Nassau Community College on Saturday. The Knights did not start great, but were able to make a comeback and come home with a win. The victory improves the Knights’ record to 12-8 overall on the season.

The Knights did not come out of the gate strong, scoring only three points in the first four minutes of the game. Luckily, their lockdown defense was keeping the Lions of Nassau from scoring as well, holding them to five points in the first four minutes.  Eventually, the scoring picked up for both sides. The Knights and Lions traded leads back and forth throughout the first half.  When the first half came to a close, the Knights were ahead by two, 34-32.

The Knights came out firing in the second half. They started with a quick, 6-0 run for the first two minutes of the half. The Lions fought back immediately, going on a 7-1 run to cut the lead to two for the Knights. The game stayed close for the next six minutes, before the Knights were able to pull away. With 12 minutes remaining, the score was knotted at 48. The Knights were able to break it open from there. They went on a 13-1 run, bringing the score to 61-49. The run was sparked by an Adrian La Fleur (Sydney, Australia) 3-pointer. The Knights never looked back after this run. They were able to maintain their lead while continuing to score. The Lions made a late run to cut the lead down, but the Knights held on to win by a final score of 76-70. 

The star of the game for the Knights was Grant Gillis (Jamestown, Rhode Island). Gillis had a great showing, contributing a double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds. He went 6-for-10 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. He also contributed one assist and two blocks. La Fleur led all Knights’ scorers with 19 points while hitting four 3-pointers. He also had three assists and one rebound. Kevin Paygai (West Warwick, Rhode Island) was the third and final Knight in double figures. He had 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting with eight assists, three rebounds, one steal and one block. 

Head Coach Rick Harris was very happy with the team’s performance on Saturday. He thought the team “brought their A game to Nassau.” He knew it was needed in order to win against the No. 5-ranked team in the Division III NJCAA rankings. Harris wants this game to be a building block moving forward as the Knights enter an important stretch ahead. Their next game is on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. when they will travel to UConn-Avery Point. 

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