December 2007

12.217.07
- Simmons 25 points Leads Lady Knights Second Half Run over Harcum College 59-49
12.17.07
12.10.07
12.07.07
12.06.07
12.03.07
12.02.07

Simmons 25 points Leads Lady Knights Second Half Run over Harcum College 59-49

In the Lady Knights last game before the Holiday break the Lady Knights used a big second half rally to defeat the Lady Bears of Harcum College 59-49. This was the third time this season that the Lady Knights defeated national power Harcum College and the fourth time in the last two years. With the win the Lady Knights improve their season high win streak to four in a row. The Lady Knights close out the semester with an 8-2.

The Lady Knights jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead on a Jill Lewis (Barrington, RI) lay up. Harcum answered right away with a 7-0 run which was capped off by a 3-pointer by guard Crystal Taylor-Gale. The Lady Knights were able to pull back ahead 13-10 when Taylor Simmons (Norwalk, CT) came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer with nine minutes left in the half. Harcum proceeded to take the Lady Knights out of there game plan packing in their defense forcing the Lady Knights to settle for outside shots. Harcum over the last nine minutes outscored the Lady Knights 20-10 to extend their lead. With five seconds to go in the half Simmons hit her second 3-pointer of the half to cut the Lady Bears lead to seven at 30-23. Simmons finished the half with 12 of the Lady Knights 23 points.

Taylor Simmons started the second half and continued her hot shooting, scoring the first two baskets of the second half and after a steal and a Jill Lewis lay up to bring the Lady Knights within a point at 30-29 with 16:26 left on the half. After a basket by the Lady Bear’s Samantha Kremenowski, Lauren Harrington (Exeter, RI) hit one of her two 3-pointers to tie the game up at 32-32. The two teams then traded baskets until Lewis made the first free throw but missed the second. However, the Lady Knights were able to tip the rebound out into the waiting arms of Simmons who poured in her fourth three pointer of the game. This gave the Lady Knights a 38-36 lead and they never looked back. With changing defensives and solid execution down the stretch the Lady Knights were able to pull away for a 59-49 victory.

Taylor Simmons finished the game with a career-high 25 points with four rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. The only other Lady Knight in double figures was First Team Pre-season All-American Denise Scott who scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half with five steals, three rebounds, and two assists. Also contributing for the Lady Knights were Jill Lewis who added seven points and Lauren Harrington (Exeter, RI) who played an excellent game defensively for the Lady Knights and added six points on two clutch 3-pointers in the second half.

Head Coach Marcus Reilly said after the game, “Our defensive effort kept us in this game early and allowed us to pull away late. Despite our offensive struggles in the first half, we remained in the game led by a sparkling defensive effort by Lauren Harrington, who again drew the assignment of defending the other team's top player, holding Point Guard Ashley Giddens to 8 total points and 0 in the second half. Holding Harcum to their season low of 49 points gave freshmen Taylor Simmons a chance to shine with the game on the line and she delivered each time with a career and game high 25 points.”

The Lady Knights will return to game action when they make their annual Florida road trip beginning on January 2nd. On the road trip The Lady Knights will square-off against NJCAA Division I powers: Broward Community College (Miami), Palm Beach Community College and Miami-Dade Community College.

CCRI Announces Basketball Invitational Tourney January 19-20th, 2008

CCRI will once again host their Basketball Invitational Weekend. The date for the Invitational will be Saturday January 19th 2008 and Sunday January 20th 2008.

This year’s Invitational Tournament will be even bigger than last year, with a full line up of eight basketball games to be played during the weekend. Four of the games will be on Saturday highlighted by the #18 ranked Lady Knights facing Top 25 powerhouse Cecil CC at 5:00pm and the Knights will be facing #9 ranked Monroe CC at 7:00pm. Also playing that day will be a women’s game featuring #13 ranked Genesee CC versus Union County College at 1pm and a men’s game featuring Genesee CC and Division I powerhouse Monroe College at 3pm.

The game schedule on Sunday will depend on the outcomes of the games on Saturday with four more games at noon, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm.

Besides all the great basketball action there will also be free giveaways all weekend long including: One lucky fan will have a chance to win $10,000! There will be dinner giveaways, movie tickets, t-shirts, and much more! For more information go to the CCRI Athletics Website http://www.ccri.edu/ATHL/ or you can call CCRI Sports Information at 401-825-1132.

Go Knights!

CCRI Athletics Update 12/17/07

It was a quiet week for CCRI Athletics there were three games scheduled that were all cancelled the Men’s basketball game scheduled for Thursday was cancelled due to weather. The Men’s and women’s road trip to Globe Institute was cancelled because Globe could not secure the correct paperwork needed to use the athletic Facility at Pace University at this time no make-up date has been set for that doubleheader.

Men’s Basketball Overview

Record: 8-4

Current Rank: in Top 20 (Not in top 18 but one of four schools receiving votes)

Wins: CC Beaver County, UConn-Avery Point, Dean, Burlington CC, Bunker Hill CC, Massasoit CC, Orange County CC, Alfred State College

Losses: Genesee CC, Quinsigamond CC, Mercer County CC, Gateway CC

The Knights have had a very good season so far with a 8-4 record and big Regional wins over rivals Dean College and Massasoit CC putting the Knights in the driver’s seat for winning the Region XXI Division II regular season title. The Knights are led by Pre-Season First Team All-American Co-Captain point guard Pat Dame (Exeter, RI) who is ranked #38 in scoring by the NJCAA averaging 18.1 point per game and ranked #16 in the country in assists averaging 6.8 assists per game. Dame has been helped by the emergence of Co-Captain Carl Lee (Warwick, RI) the Knights most improved player who is averaging 12.64 points per game including scoring 29 versus rival Dean College and 22 versus Gateway CTC he is also second on the Knights averaging 4.91 rebounds per game. Also contributing to the Knights success is Co-Captain Jake Grimes (Pawtucket, RI) averaging 11 points 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game transfer Mike Noonan (Westport, MA) averaging 8.78 point per game including 19 3-pointers, and Center Alex Diaz (Providence, RI) who is averaging 6.9 points per game and leads the Knights with 6.2 rebounds per game.

As a team the Knights are ranked #37 in team defense averaging 73.14 points given up per game and #19 team offense averaging 84.14 points per game.

The Knights next games will come during their Florida road trip where they will travel to Broward CC January 3rd, Palm Beach CC on January 5th, and Miami-Dade CC on January 7th. After that road trip the Knights will return home to play highly touted Notre Dame Prep at Home on Saturday January 12th at 3pm at the Vincent A. Cullen Field house in Warwick.

Go Knights!

Women’s Basketball Overview

Record: 7-2

Current Rank: #18

Wins: Herkimer College, Dean College, Harcum College twice, Lackawanna College, Alfred State College, and Jamestown CC

Losses: Genesee CC in OT, and Mercer County CC

The #18 ranked Lady Knights are off to an excellent start with an impressive 7-2 record with two big wins over National power house Harcum College, and other big wins versus Region XXI rival Dean College and top schools like Alfred State and Jamestown CC. The Lady Knights are led by Pre-season first Team All-American Denise Scott (Yonkers, NY) who is ranked #15 in Scoring in the country (NJCAA) averaging 17.4 point per game and ranked #17 in the nation in Steals with 3.78 per game. Scott has been helped by an infusion of young talent including Taylor Simmons (Norwalk, CT) averaging 9.78 points, 4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game along with Jill Lewis (Barrington, RI) averaging 9.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and leads the team at the free throw line with a 80% average. Also helping the Lady Knights attack has been freshman point guard Nicole Girard (Foster, RI) who has been distributing the ball with tremendous efficiency averaging 4 assists per game including a season-high 10 assists versus Lackawanna and eight assists versus a very tough Alfred State team she has also averaged 7.3 points, 1.7 steals, and 2.7 rebounds per game. Another emerging star for the Lady Knights has been power forward Rachel Murray (Gloucester, MA) averaging 7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 assists per game including a season-high 14 point scoring effort versus Alfred State that featured a series of 12-straight unanswered points that helped secure the Lady Knights victory and followed that with an 11 point seven rebound night versus Jamestown CC with all of her points coming in the all important second half when the Lady Knights needed them most. Rounding out the Lady Knights key players are defensive specialist Lauren Harrington (Exeter, RI) who while guarding the opposition’s bets player still finds a way to score 6 points with 4.6 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game, Sharniece Williams (Hartford, CT) who brings a great deal of energy ever time she is on the court adding a team-high seven rebounds per game to go along with 4.2 points per game and Center Jackie Murray (Gloucester, MA) has added interior stability while scoring 4 points with 5.3 rebounds, two assists, and 1.2 blocks per game.

As a team the Lady Knights are ranked #27 in the nation in scoring averaging 73.56 points per game and #9 in the nation (NJCAA) in team defense averaging 53.11 points scored against per game.

The Lady Knights next game will be Wednesday when they will host Harcum College at 5pm. From there the Lady Knights will travel to Florida where they will meet Broward CC January 3rd, Palm Beach CC January 5th, and Miami-Dade January 7th. After their Florida Trip the Lady Knights will return home to face Notre Dame Prep at 1pm at the Vincent A. Cullen field house in Warwick.

Go Lady Knights!

Stephanie Grassini Earns First Team NSCAA All-American and NSCAA All-Northeast Region also a finalist for the NSCAA Player of the Year!

Stephanie Grassini (Warwick, RI) keeps racking up the awards! Grassini has been selected to both NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) 2007 First Team All-Northeast District and 2007 NSCAA First Team All-American. In 2006 she was selected as National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Second Team All-American. The All-American Award is her third in two years. Last week Grassini was selected Second Team All-American Division I Women’s Soccer by the NJCAA. This was the second All-American Award for Stephanie in two years.

Grassini is also one of six finalists for the NSCAA Player of the Year! The finalist are for the award are each Region’s top vote getter for All-Region along with the defensive and offensive MVP’s from the National Tournament. What this means is that Grassini was the leading vote getter for the Northeast Region playing in just 10 of the Lady Knights 17 games.

Grassini has been racking up the awards in her short career at CCRI. She is a two time first Team All-Region XXI player and now a two-time All-American. Grassini played in 10 of the Lady Knights 17 games where the Lady Knights went 15-2 and she was still raked fourth on the team in scoring with six goals and 14 assists for 26 total points. In her career Stephanie scored 14 goals with 20 assists for 48 total points. Stephanie was a major catalyst for the Lady Knights offensive attack while providing leadership as a Co-Captain.

In her freshman year Grassini, a Midfielder, tallied 22 points in her freshman year with eight goals and six assists including three game winning goals. Stephanie is the youngest daughter of CCRI Head Women’s Soccer Coach Dennis Grassini and in watching her play you can see that she has been trained since an early age to become an elite women’s soccer player. Often times on the field she was the smallest player in stature but played with the biggest heart never backing down and delivering key plays in clutch situations.

Head Women’s Soccer Coach and proud father Dennis Grassini said: “The coaching staff is extremely pleased and proud of Stephanie and her accomplishments. However, she would be the first to say that any individual award would not be possible without her teammates. Stephanie has worked very hard both on and off the field for the last two years; as her father and her coach I am especially proud of her and her accomplishments. She has represented the Women's Soccer program and CCRI in an admirable fashion."

Here is the link to view the entire team:
http://www.nscaa.com/articles/20071207123233253.php

Congratulations Stephanie!

Nicole Kufel Earns NSCAA First Team All-Northeast Region

Lady Knights Soccer Defender Nicole Kufel (Oradell, NJ) has been voted first Team All northeast Region by the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America).

This was Kufel’s second award in two weeks as she earned First Team All-Region XXI last week. Nicole was a dual threat acting as the stopper on the Lady Knights “All-Freshman defense” and also serving as a reserve forward scoring five goals and six assists for 16 total points. Kufel was an important part of the Lady Knights success as they went 15-2 losing only two games both to National powerhouse Monroe CC. Kufel’s presence was even more important when Lady Knights Co-Captain Stephanie Grassini went down with a leg injury late in the season. When that happened her role expanded from being a defender to playing more on both sides of the field.

Here is the link to view the entire team:

http://www.nscaa.com/downloads/07JCWDINE.html

Denise Scott’s Big Second Half Leads Lady Knights to 78-53 Win and Perfect Weekend!

The 18th ranked CCRI Lady Knights improve to 7-2 after a 78-53 victory over Jamestown Community College Jayhawks.

After a difficult game on Saturday the Lady Knights came back Sunday morning for an unusually early 11:00am tip off. However, the early time did not seem to affect the Lady Knights in there quest for win number seven. Both teams came out flying high in the first half as Jamestown jumped out to an early 13-10 lead eight minutes into the game. After a Jill Lewis (Barrington, RI) lay-up to tie the game at 13-13, the Jayhawks went on a 7-0 run giving them a 20-13 lead. The Lady Knights responded with there own 11-2 run which was lead by Nicole Girard (Foster, RI) who scored all of her nine points during the run. To go along with the nine points Girard also dished out a team leading five assists while pulling down six rebounds. The run gave the Lady Knights a 24-22 lead with five minutes to play in the first half. Both teams continued to push the pace as they each exchanged hoops during the last five minutes. Jill Lewis sank a late basket with 6.2 left to lift the Lady Knights to a 35-31 halftime lead.

With 14 minutes to go and the Lady Knights still only up three the Lady Knights but together an 11-0 run capped by Denise Scott with 11:26 in the half to push their lead to 55-41. The Lady Knights used there defensive pressure to ware out the Jayhawks. This was quite evident as the Lady Knights closed the game out with a 16-5 run to had the Jayhawks there third loss on the season. Both runs were led by First Team Pre-Season All American Denise Scott (Yonkers, NY) who scored 14 of her game high 23 points in the second half and post player Rachel Murray (Gloucester, MA) who scored all 11 points in the second half. Scott also finished the game with nine rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Murray pulled down seven rebounds.

The Lady Knights got another outstanding effort from its starting power forward Jill Lewis who finished the game with 16 points on 5-12 shooting a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line, six rebounds and three assists. In addition, Amanda Valentine (West Warwick, RI) and Danielle Cartier (Lincoln, RI) saw there first action this season since joining the Lady Knights each contributing positively. Valentine scored her first basket of the season while Cartier dished out two assists.

Head Coach Marcus Reilly said after the game, “There was carry over from yesterdays Alfred State game as we came out in the second half and put them away. I thought are team showed a lot of growth by achieving two victories over two good but two different teams. Are ability to execute in the half court and get high percentage shots for out guards and post players will be important lessons for us in feature games and with the emergence of our post game will only make our top 20 offensive even better.”

The Lady Knights are back in action next Saturday as they take a trip to New York City to play Globe Institute of Technology at 1:00 PM.

Rachel Murray Leads Lady Knights in Second half for a 69-50 Victory

The 18th ranked CCRI Lady beat a very good Alfred State College team on Saturday 69-50. With the win the Lady Knights improved to 6-2 on the season.

The first half was very tightly contested with neither team getting a lead larger then seven points. The Lady Knights trailed 16-13 at the nine minute mark as Anthia Smith buried a baseline jump shot. The Lady Knights then went on a 7-0 run to get the game back in their favor, led the Lady Knights Taylor Simmons (Norwalk, CT) who came off the bench in the first half and contributed 13 of her team high 15 points. However, Alfred State would not back down as they turned to Tiffany McLaughlin, the third leading score in the nation entering weekends play. Second Team Preseason All-American Tiffany McLaughlin would help the Pioneers regain the lead as she scored six straight points of her own to give the Alfred State a 23-20 lead with just over five minutes to go in the half. Simmons once again had the answer for the Lady Knights as she hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give her team the lead. Jill Lewis (Barrington, RI) closed out the half with four straight points to give the Lady Knights a 37-33 lead entering half time.

The second half quickly became all Lady Knights and their emerging star post player Rachel Murray (Gloucester, MA) took over the game. The Lady Knights started the second half with a 16-4 run over a seven minute span to give them a comfortable 12 point lead capped by two free throws from Nicole Girard. The Pioneers would get as close as eight points on a basket by Anthia Smith making the score 47-55 with just 7:40 left. They would get no closer as Rachel Murray scored 12 straight points over the next four minutes with the Lady Knights closing out Alfred State with a 14-3 run. Another key to the two big scoring runs was the ability of the Lady Knights Lauren Harrington (Exeter, RI) and Taylor Simmons to lock down and stop Tiffany McLaughlin in the second half holding her to just one field goal and four points.

Taylor Simmons led the Lady Knights scoring 15 points she dished out four assists with two blocked shots and a steal followed by emerging star Rachel Murray’s 14 points with four blocked shots and two assists. The Lady Knights also received major contributions from Jill Lewis and Denise Scott (Yonkers, NY). Lewis finished the game with 12 points on five for nine shooting and pulled down five rebounds, while Scott had seventh straight double-figure game by adding 10 points. CCRI also had another solid game from there starting point guard as Nicole Girard (Foster, RI) added eight points, six rebounds, eight assists and two steals.

Head Coach Marcus Reilly said after the game, “An inspired defensive effort in the second half sealed a quality win for us this afternoon. Lauren Harrington and Taylor Simmons led the defensive effort by holding the third leading scorer in the nation to just four second half points. I was very excited about the emergence of 6’2” center Rachel Murray as a dominating post presence on both ends of the floor.”

The Lady Knights are back in action on Sunday at 11am versus Jamestown Community College Jayhawks.

Late Free Throws from Diaz and Grimes lift Knights Past Pioneers 74-69

The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team defeated the Pioneers of Alfred State College 74-69. With the victory the Knights improve their record to 8-4 on the season while the Pioneers drop to 8-4 on the season. The game was taped to air on Cox Sports Channel 3 on Sunday at 4pm and can be viewed all month long on “Cox On Demand” in the “Free Zone.”

With all the cameras and bright lights you just knew that you were going to be in for an excellent game as both the Knights and Pioneers were ready to show their best for the Cox Sports Channel 3 audience. The Knights came out firing first with Mike Noonan (Westport, MA) burying a deep 3-pointer followed by a basket by Co-Captain Pat Dame (Exeter, RI) making the score 5-0 just 45 seconds into the game. Alfred State battled back to within just one point at 11-10 at the 15:43 mark and a TV timeout. The Pioneers were able to take a two point lead on a 3-pointer and driving lay-up by Dusty Marshall making the score 30-28 with 5:37 left in the half. Pat Dame answered with two 3-pointers sandwiched around a TV timeout to give the Knights a 36-34 lead with 1:42 in the half. Alfred State’s Dan Foley answered Dame’s three with one of his own giving the Pioneers a 37-36 lead with 34.4 left in the half but Knights’ Co-Captain Carl Lee (Warwick, RI) mad a tremendous hustle play to put back an errant shot with 1.2 left in the half giving the Knights a 38-37 lead going into the half.

In the second half the excitement did not dissipate as the Knights came out firing again and quickly took a 10 point lead on a basket by Carl Lee that made the score 47-37 at the 17:37 mark. The Pioneers would not go quietly as they chipped away at the Knights’ lead and actually went ahead 56-55 on a driving lay-up by Jimmie Dillard at the 8:03 mark. Co-Captain Jake Grimes (Pawtucket, RI) gave the Knights the lead back at 57-56 with 6:52 left but Alfred’s Dusty Marshall again had an answer burying a deep 3-pointer to give the Pioneers the 60-59 lead with 5:49 left in the game. The Pioneers battled back once again with Jimmie Dillard making another key shot to give Alfred State a 66-64 lead with just 3:05 left. Jake Grimes had the Knights answer banging a huge 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring to give the Knights a 67-66 lead with just 2:28 left. The Pioneer’s Jimmie Dillard answered back with his own traditional three point play giving Alfred State a 69-67 lead with 2:13 remaining. Alfred State stopped the Knights the next time down the court and called a timeout with a 69-67 lead with just 1:09 left. The Pioneers could not convert a basket on their trip and Knights Center Alex Diaz (Providence, RI) was fouled and buried two free throws to tie the game at 69-69 with a mere 49.7 seconds left. The Pioneers again failed to convert a basket on their next attempt and Diaz ripped down a huge rebound and was fouled putting him to the line again with just 30.3 seconds left. Diaz made one of two to give the Knights a 70-69 lead. Once again the Knights defense got a defensive stop on the Alfred end of the court and the Pioneers fouled Jake Grimes who sank two clutch free throws to give the Knights a 72-69 lead with 12.4 seconds left. Diaz was able to get a rebound of the final Alfred State 3-point attempt, getting fouled in the process. Diaz sank his two free throws with 3.7 seconds left to secure the Knights’ 74-69 victory.

Co-Captain Pat Dame led the way for the Knights scoring a game-high 23 points while dishing out nine assists followed by Center Alex Diaz who had a huge game scoring 15 points including 9-11 from the free throw line with five rebounds. Also having a great game for the Knights was Co-Captain Carl Lee who had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and Co-Captain Jake Grimes added 11 points with three steals and two assists.

Head Coach Rick Harris commented: “This was a very satisfying win following our two point loss to Gateway. Our young men responded beautifully by moving on to the next task at hand. They executed and finished plays down the stretch in a manner which made me very proud. We made big defensive plays and offensive plays and that is needed against strong and seasoned teams like Alfred State.”

The Knights next game will be this Thursday December 13th when they will visit Roxbury CC at 7:00pm.

CCRI Athletics and CCRI Men’s Basketball Lend Support through “Coaches for Cancer” Triple-Header Friday December 14

On the evening of Friday December 14th the CCRI Athletic Department and the CCRI Men’s Basketball Program will host six Rhode Island Interscholastic League teams in the “Coaches for Cancer” triple-header at the Vincent A. Cullen Field house on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick.

The match-ups for the special evening are: Feinstein vs. Exeter/West Greenwich at 5:00pm, Cranston West vs. Westin, CT. at 6:30pm, and Cranston East vs. Lincoln at 8:00pm. The proceeds from this event will allow The CCRI Athletic Department and Men’s Basketball Program to make a generous donation to the American Cancer Association. All workers for the event will be volunteering their time for this special cause.

The event is being sponsored by CCRI Athletics and the Men's Basketball Team along with the participating high schools.

Come See the Knights and Lady Knights and Be Seen on TV!

The CCRI Knights and CCRI Lady Knights basketball teams have some huge games weekend.

First, on Saturday, the Lady Knights will face the Pioneers of Alfred State College at 1pm. Immediately following will be a LIVE TV taping for Cox Sports Channel 3 of the Knights facing Alfred State College at 3pm. Come support your Knights and Lady Knights and be seen on TV the Sunday at 4:00pm.

On Sunday the Lady Knights have an early 11am tip-off versus Jamestown CC. All games will be played at the Vincent A. Cullen Field house located on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick.

Weekend Schedule:

Men’s Basketball

Saturday December 8, 2007 vs. Alfred State College @ 3:00pm
Live TV Taping!

Women’s Basketball

Saturday December 8, 2007 vs. Alfred State College @ 1:00pm
Sunday December 9, 2007 vs. Jamestown CC @ 11:00AM

Lee’s late Charge not enough to Lift Knights over Gateway as they fall 78-76

The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team was dealt a heartbreaking 78-76 loss to Region XXI foe Gateway CTC (New Haven, CT). With the loss the Knights record drops to 7-4 on the season.

Five Gateway players scored in double-figures to upset the Knights. Among them was Sly Williams Jr. the son on URI legend Sly Williams who scored a team-high 17 points and ex-CCRI Knight Julian Boateng (Providence, RI/Mt. Pleasant) who played under previous Knights Coach Dave Chevalier added 13 points.

The Knights found themselves down 8-2 quickly in the game to the hot long-range shooting Lions of Gateway Career Technical College. The Knights battled back to tie the score at 11 at the 15:30 mark on the 3-pointer by Mike Noonan (Westport, MA). However, the Knights could not keep up with the hot shooting Lions who dropped eight 3-pointers in the first half three from ex-Knight Boateng as they took a 44-38 lead into halftime.

Down six at the half the Knights needed to come out with a sense of urgency but Gateway was ready to answer the challenge as they stretched their lead to 15 points with 15:10 left in the second half. After a CCRI timeout the Knights came out with a renewed sense of vigor and began to chip away at the Lions lead led by Carl Lee (Warwick, RI) and Mike Noonan to cut the Lions lead to 55-60 at the 11:53 mark.

After a Gateway timeout the Knights and Lions traded baskets with the Knights cutting the lions lead to three points at 66-63 on a shot by Jamal Johnson (Fall River, MA) at the 6:35 mark. Gateway was able to extend their lead back to six on a three point play by Paul Stewart but the Knights answered with two 3-pointers from Co-Captain Marc Testa (Smithfield, RI) making the score 69-71 Gateway with 4:35 left.

Sly Williams Jr answered fro Gateway making the score 73-69 but a pair of Pat Dame (Exeter, RI) free throws followed by a powerful post move and three point play from Co-Captain Carl Lee gave the Knights their first lead of the night at 74-73 with just 2:18 remaining in the game. Gateway sank a free throw from Doug Hoffler to tie the game at 74 with 1:50 remaining. Jamal Johnson drove and made a remarkable reverse lay-up to give the Knights their second lead of the game with just 1:30 left. Chris Crawford answered for the Lions tying the score at 76 with just 1:15 left. Jamal Johnson missed a 3-pointer that would have really put the pressure on the Lions with 50 seconds left giving Gateway the ball with a tie score with 47.9 second left.

Gateways’ Braxton Darden made a difficult driving lay-up to give the Lions the 78-76 lead with just 25.4 second left. The Knights immediately gave the ball back the Lions on a traveling violation with 21.5 left. After a Gateway timeout they ran a triple-screen full court pass play to Williams Jr that was intercepted by Knights Co-Captain Carl Lee who immediately called a timeout with just 10.7 left in the game. On the Knights next possession Alex Diaz (Providence, RI) was fouled he missed them both but remarkably Carl Lee made another big play out hustling all the Gateway players to secure the ball for the Knights and call another timeout with 7.9 seconds left. CCRI called timeout to run a final play, they play was designed to go to Mike Noonan but he was denied the ball forcing Pat Dame to try and create a basket but Gateway forced a turnover with just .9 left to secure to hard fought victory.

Co-Captain Carl Lee led the way for the Knights charting a double-double with a game-high 22 points with 10 rebounds and 10 rebounds with three assists and a steal followed by Mike Noonan who scored 19 points including 4-9 from 3-point land. Also contributing for the Knights was Co-Captain Jake Grimes (Pawtucket, RI) added 11 points with five assists and Pat Dame scored a season low five points but dished out a game-high nine assists.

Head Coach Rick Harris had this to say after the game: “Very disheartening loss, but we must bounce back in practice and prepare ourselves for Saturday’s contest with Alfred State, Gateway played a super game and we just did not come out of the starting blocks playing defense with the intensity we needed to play with to win a game like tonight’s. Hopefully this will serve as a wake-up call for our team.”

The Knights next game will be a Live TV taping for Cox Sports Channel 3 this Saturday at 3pm when the Knights face Alfred State immediately following the Lady Knights who will face Alfred State at 1pm at the Vincent A. Cullen Field house located on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick.

Lady Knights’ Soccer Star Stephanie Grassini Voted Second Team All-American by NJCAA

Stephanie Grassini (Warwick, RI), the CCRI Lady Knights Women’s Soccer Co-Captain Midfielder was selected Second Team All-American in Division I Women’s Soccer. This is the second All-American Award for Stephanie in two years. In 2006 she was selected as National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Second Team All-American.

Grassini has been racking up the awards in her short career at CCRI. She is a two time first Team All-Region XXI player and now a two-time All-American. Grassini played in 10 of the Lady Knights 17 games where the Lady Knights went 15-2 and she was still ranked fourth on the team in scoring with six goals and 14 assists for 26 total points. In her career Stephanie scored 14 goals with 20 assists for 48 total points. Stephanie was a major catalyst for the Lady Knights offensive attack while providing leadership as a Co-Captain.

Scott Scores 32 as Lady Knights Hammer Harcum 83-59

The CCRI Lady Knights women’s basketball team defeated the Lady Bears of Harcum College 83-59. With the victory the Lady Knights improve their record to 5-2 on the season.

The Lady Knights bounced back from a tough road loss on Saturday to Mercer County CC to hand Harcum an emphatic 83-59 loss on Sunday. Up by 10 points with just over 10 minutes to play in the game the Lady Knights found themselves in the same position they were in the day earlier. However, today the Lady Knights answered the call as their Pre-season First Team All-American Denise Scott (Yonkers, NY) stepped-up to lead the Lady Knights’ charge and put the Lady Bears away expanding the Lady Knights lead to as much as 24 down the stretch to win by the final score of 83-59.

First Team All-American Denise Scott led the way for the Lady Knights having a phenomenal game scoring a game-high 32 points, including 12-14 from the free throw line with eight rebounds, six steals, and three assists. Also scoring in double figures for the Lady Knights was Jill Lewis (Barrington, RI) who charted a double-double scoring 11 points with 10 rebounds and Point Guard Nicole Girard (Foster, RI) added 11 points with five rebounds and two assists. Also contributing to the victory was Taylor Simmons (Norwalk, CT) with seven points and three assists, Jackie Murray (Gloucester, MA) with five points and a team-high 10 rebounds, Rachel Murray (Gloucester, MA) with seven points, five rebounds, and two assists, and LaSheena Boyd (Stratford, CT) with five points and two steals.

Head Coach Marcus Reilly said: “Today resembled the Lady Knights team we expect to see on an every game basis. Defensive lapses and offensive droughts were minimized through individuals stepping up within our system. Those individual efforts were supplemented by a team playing with the much needed high energy level and necessary communication.”

The Lady Knights next game will be this Saturday December 8th when they will host Alfred State College at 1:00pm and Sunday the 10th at 11:00am when they host Jamestown CC at the Vincent A. Cullen Field house on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick.

Go Lady Knights!!!

Lady Knights Missed Opportunities lead to 59-56 Loss to Mercer County CC

The CCRI Lady Knights basketball team lost a very hard fought battle with the Vikings of Mercer County CC 59-56. With the loss the Lady Knights record drops to 4-2 on the season.

The Lady Knights had a hard time shaking off the rust as they hadn’t played a game in two weeks. This led to their lowest offensive output on the season. The Lady Knights shot just 26% from the field on 21-82 shooting and just 46% from the free-throw line. In addition, Mercer County Point Guard Dayeenah Diggs scored a game-high 31 points to lead the Vikings to victory.

The Lady Knights had a 25-18 lead going into the half but couldn’t hold off the hot-handed Diggs in the second half where she scored 20 of her 31 points including 15-19 from the free-throw line. The Lady Knights had a double-digit lead with 10:00 left in the game but Mercer County, led by Diggs, made a late comeback hitting big baskets and feeding off their home crowd to pull out the victory with the game on the line.

Denise Scott (Yonkers, NY) led the Lady Knights with 12 points, eight rebounds, and four steals, followed by Jackie Murray (Gloucester, MA) with nine points, three blocks and four rebounds, Nicole Girard (Foster, RI) had eight points with three assists. Also contributing for the Lady Knights was Rachel Murray (Gloucester, MA) with six points and nine rebounds and Sharniece Williams (Hartford, CT) with six points and six rebounds.

Head Coach Marcus Reilly said: “This game highlighted our lack of experience and immaturity. We had numerous opportunities to put Mercer away but continued to let them creep back into the game and get the come from behind victory. Anytime you give a team confidence on the road, they have a chance. How we respond tomorrow will show if we learned anything from this loss.”

The Lady Knights will face Harcum College at Noon Sunday December the 2nd.

Go Lady Knights!!!

Knights’ Dame Drops 29 to Lift CCRI Over Orange County CC 72-63

The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team defeated Orange County CC 72-63 in a tough division II match-up this Saturday. With the victory the Knights improve their record to 7-3 on the season.

The Knights found themselves in a battle with a very tough and tall Orange County CC team that featured a frontline of a 6’6” power forward and 7’2”Center. The Knights were not intimidated even after going into halftime down 30-29. In the second half the Knights used an array of full-court defenses including a 2-2-1, 1-3-1, and 1-2-1-1, to stifle the Colts of Orange County CC and get the game to the speed that they like to play.

Down 30-29 at the half the Knights blistered out to score the first eight points to take a 37-30 lead three minutes into the half. But the Colts would not go quietly as they were able to take a 49-48 lead on a 3-pointer by Eric Melendez with just 10:00 to play. The Knights were able to tie the score at 51at the 8:30 mark on a 3-pointer by Jamal Hinds (Brooklyn, NY) and took a 57-51 lead after two acrobatic lay-ups by Jamal Johnson (Fall, River, MA) followed by a driving by Co-Captain Pat Dame (Exeter, RI) at the 5:45 mark. Orange County sank e few free throws to cut the lead to 57-54 at the 5:15 mark but Jamal Hinds drilled another 3-pointer to give the Knights the 60-54 lead and Jamal Johnson plunged in the final dagger with a spectacular steal and dunk to give the Knights the 62-54 lead with 3:30 left in the game. Pat Dame helped the Knights close the game out scoring six of his game-high 29 points in the final minutes giving the Knights the 72-63 victory.

Pre-season first Team All-American and Co-Captain Pat Dame led the way for the Knights scoring 29 points on a spectacular 13-17 shooting with five assists and just three turnovers. Also scoring in double figures was Mike Noonan (Westport, MA) with 11 points and Jamal Hinds with 10 points including two 3-pointers with five rebounds. Also contributing for the Knights was Co-Captain Jake Grimes (Pawtucket, RI) with four points but a season-high six assists, Center Alex Diaz (Providence, RI) had four points with a team-high seven rebounds, and Jamal Johnson had a spectacular second half scoring six key points including a spectacular dunk off a steal.

Head Coach Rick Harris said: “This was a very solid team win against a very good Orange County CC team. They are an excellent defensive team and do a great job controlling the tempo. I am proud of how our bench stepped-up. I am most proud of our half court offensive execution and defensive effort. We are a work in progress but definitely heading in the right direction.”

The Knights next game will be Wednesday the 5th when they will host Gateway CTC at 6:00pm at the Vincent A. Cullen Field house located on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick.

Six Knights Score in Double Figures in Comeback over Massasoit CC 97-85

The CCRI Knights men’s basketball team defeated Region XXI foe Massasoit CC 97-85 in Brockton, MA. With the victory the Knights improve their overall record to 6-3 and improve to 4-1 in Region XXI, more importantly 2-0 in Region XXI Division II which is the Knights Division. The victory put the Knights in the driver’s seat for the Region XXI Regular season crown as the Knights have defeated both Region XXI Division II opponents Dean College and Massasoit CC with one more meeting with each before the season is out.

The Knights battled back from a 13 point first half deficit to secure their second Region XXI intra-division (Division II) victory. The Knights trailed 38-25 with 4:30 left and battled back utilizing a 20-6 scoring run ending the half on a Kris Wood (Central Falls, RI) put-back basket with just six seconds left giving the Knights a 45-44 lead at the half.

The second half was all CCRI as the Warriors of Massasoit CC had no answer for the Knights fast paced inside-outside attack. The Knights were able to pull away from the Warriors and keep their lead, winning by a final of 97-85.

Co-Captain Pat Dame (Exeter, RI), still battling though a painful hamstring injury, led the way for the Knights scoring a team-high 19 points with six assists followed by Co-Captain Jake Grimes (Pawtucket, RI) with 16 points, and Co-Captain Carl Lee (Warwick, RI) charted a double-double scoring 15 points with 10 rebounds. Also contributing for the Knights was Mike Noonan (Westport, MA) with 14 points including four 3-pointers while the three-headed monster consisting of: Sam Jones (New London, CT), Alex Diaz (Providence, RI), and Kris Wood combined for 27 points and 19 total rebounds. Alex Diaz led the way with a double-double scoring 10 points with 14 rebounds, Sam Jones had a career-high 13 points and two rebounds, and Kris wood added four points and three rebounds.

Head Coach Rick Harris commented “A solid team victory. Believe it or not this was a very good defensive effort by us tonight as Massasoit has been averaging 95 points per game. Great contributions by all and we played awesome team ball. They guys are showing they do not care about individual glory but instead just TEAM success and daily improvement. That is very rewarding for a coach to be a part of.”

The Knights next game will be this Saturday December 1st when they face Orange County CC at 1:00pm at the Vincent A. Cullen Field house on the CCRI Knight Campus in Warwick.