Friars win exhibition against Anchormen; Dunn hurt
Sunday, November 03, 2013
The Providence Friars managed to win an exhibition game Saturday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center, but in the process might have also lost something as well.
Like a starting point guard for a while.
With 10:23 left in the first half of PC's eventual 97-65 win over Rhode Island College, sophomore guard Kris Dunn - who missed the first half of last season with an injured shoulder - fell in a heap in front of his bench as play continued up the floor. What no one realized at the time was Dunn hurt his right shoulder, the same shoulder he had surgery performed on a little more than a year ago.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"He's day-to-day," head coach Ed Cooley told the assembled media after the game. "It's the same shoulder. A RIC player fell on him and pushed it out. We'll take a look tomorrow and Monday and know more. He's very sore. It's the same shoulder that he had surgery on, so I'm worried."
Later Saturday night, several media reports through Twitter seemed to indicate some cautious optimism in Dunn's favor existed, that no serious damage occurred or reoccurred to his shoulder. Dunn left the game after the injury holding his right wrist, and was seen wincing in some discomfort as he left the floor, He did return to the bench for the second half, with an ice pack on his right shoulder underneath his warmups...and later took the ice off. During timeouts, he was seen stretching his right arm...the same one he was operated on for a torn labrum in July of 2012.
An MRI on Dunn's shoulder is expected before the weekend is over.
As for the rest of the game, sophomore transfer Tyler Harris led all scorers with 19 points and shot 7-of-10 from the floor, including a 3-pointer, while senior Bryce Cotton finished with 17 points.
The first half closed out with the Friars leading, 49-33. Cotton and Harris led both teams in scoring at the half with 12 points each. The Friars shot 52 percent (12-for-23) from the floor and were 4-of-10 from the 3-point arc. Westerly, RI freshman Austin Cilley led the Anchormen with nine points (3-of-5 on 3-pointers) in the half.
Providence shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half. PC was dominant on the boards with 45 on the night compared to the 19 pulled down by RIC. Kadeem Batts had nine rebounds to lead the way. Providence also outscored RIC 56-26 in the paint. 47 points off of the bench also showed there's some capability there, with freshman Brandon Austin adding 13 points and soph shooter Josh Fortune scoring 11, including three 3's.
The Friars shot 54% for the game (32-for-59). Rhode Island College ended up at 45% for the game, but fired in 9-of-21 (43%) from outside the arc to keep things interesting.
Five Friars reached double-digits in scoring (Harris, Cotton, Austin, Fortune and Carson Desrosiers, with 10). Cotton was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line, and as a team, PC shot 26-37 (70%) while the Anchormen were 8-of 12. Defensively, Fortune also contributed four steals.
RIC was led by Cilley with 17 points (5-of-7 3-pointers). Pawtucket senior Nyheem Sanders and Providence senior Michael Palumbo reached double figures for the Anchormen with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The Friars will open the regular season next Friday night November 8th, at the Dunk against long-time rival Boston College. Tip-off is at 6:00 pm.
