Knights out-work Warriors in Region XXI showdown

Posted 2/19/15

The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team hosted the Warriors of Massasoit Community College from Brockton, Mass. to the Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse on Thursday evening. CCRI defeated the …

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Knights out-work Warriors in Region XXI showdown

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The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team hosted the Warriors of Massasoit Community College from Brockton, Mass. to the Vincent A. Cullen Fieldhouse on Thursday evening. CCRI defeated the Warriors, 89-64, to even its record at 12-12, while improving its Region XXI record to 9-1 and 2-1 in the Division (DII Region XXI). 

The Knights came out firing on all cylinders, as tri-captains Malieke Young (Providence, R.I.) and Jerome Harris (Hartford, Conn.) set the tone, connecting for five first-half 3-pointers – three from Young and two from Harris. 

Their perimeter assault opened up the lane for freshman Grant Gillis (Jamestown, R.I.), who dominated in the first half, leading the Knights with 15 first-half points both from the paint and free throw line. 

The Knights took a 16-point lead, 27-11, after only seven minutes of play. The Knights played aggressive defense to maintain that lead to take a 46-33 advantage into halftime. 

CCRI started the second half with a 9-0 run to extend its lead to go up by 22 points, 55-33.  

The Knights maintained that defensive intensity, which led to the play of the game where Harris stole the ball off an inbounds pass after a Johnson Weah (Monrovia, Liberia) basket and posterized two Warrior defenders with a windmill jam that brought the Knights’ faithful to their feet. The jam made the score 63-35 CCRI and the Knights would cruise from there to win by the final count of 89-64.

Leading the way for CCRI was Gillis with a team-high 19 points, while ripping down eight rebounds with two steals and a blocked shot, while Young hit for 16 points, including four 3-pointers, two assists, a blocked shot and a head-first diving hustle steal late in the game, which helped set tone for second half.  

Harris scored 14 points, including the monster dunk, while grabbing seven rebounds and four assists and freshman Mike DeJesus (Cranston, R.I.) contributed with 14 points, coming off the bench and hitting four treys of his own. 

Also helping the Knights to the key victory was tri-captain Anthony Jernigan (East Hartford, Conn.), who is tied for 10th in the nation in the NJCAA in assists averaging 5.8 per contest, dished out a game-high seven assists, while freshman big man Mahda Brewah (Dover, Del.) snared eight boards.  

“This is the type of performance we’ve been waiting for,” CCRI head coach Rick Harris said. “It was a total team effort spurred on by aggressive defense and all-out hustle plays like diving for loose balls. Our offense is usually good, but playing good, hard defense like we did tonight is what is needed to win ball games. I’m very proud of the way the team played tonight.” 

Lady Knights fall to Navy Prep

The CCRI Lady Knights’ basketball team traveled to Newport, R.I. on Saturday to play the Rams of the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS). The Lady Knights lost to NAPS 55-48. With the loss, CCRI’s record drops to 6-16 on the season.     

Navy Prep jumped ahead of the Lady Knights to begin the game with an 8-0 run. NAPS held the lead for most of the half, until CCRI battled back to score the final six points of the half to tie the game, 21-21, at the break.

The Lady Knights began the second half playing very tough, as they took the lead, 28-27, on a basket from tri-captain Amber Edwards (Boston, Mass.). From there, NAPS went on a 16-5 run to take a 10-point lead, 43-33. CCRI didn’t quit and battled back to close the lead to just four points, 49-45, after a pair of made free throws from Lyric Artis (Albany, N.Y.). But that is as close as CCRI would get, as Navy Prep held on to the slim lead to win by the final score of 55-48.

Leading the way for the Lady Knights was Edwards with 12 points, eight rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot, while Artis chipped in with 12 points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot. Also helping CCRI was tri-captain LaShana Tolliver (Albany, N.Y.), who just missed a double-double with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds and Jennifer Cicero (West Greenwich, R.I.), who added nine points with five rebounds and two assists.

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