NEW: RIC Basketball Buries UMass Boston 75-51
Sunday, February 05, 2012
After losing to No. 6 Amherst, Rhode Island College bounced back with a 75-51 victory over Little East Conference foe UMass Boston.
The Anchormen(16-4, 7-3LEC) and The Beacons (5-16, 1-9 LEC) traded baskets for the first five minutes of the contest. After a with just over 14 minutes left in the half, Mason Choice hit a jumper to put RIC up by 6. The Anchormen tried to extend the lead however the Beacons would always have a response. RIC stepped up the defense and went into the half leading 29-20.
The Second half is where the Anchormen’s offense came alive. Lead by Choice and fellow senior Mike Akinrola, the Anchormen started the half on a 7-0 and didn’t turn back. The lead quickly went from 9, to 16, to 25 as the half continued. After a Chris Burton layup with 2:43 remaining, the Anchormen’s lead grew to 32 and the victory was in hand.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Our defense is what wins us games” said Senior Co-Captain Mason Choice. “We just need to keep up with our great team defense and then the offensive end will come to us”.
This was the 13th time of the season the Anchormen’s defense held a team to under 55 points.
“We held them to 36% shooting and 51 points, if were going to be a championship team that’s what we are going to need to do to win,” added Anchormen head coach Bob Walsh.
Anchormen Notes: Akinrola led all scorers with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Mason Choice was not far behind with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. Also scoring for the Anchormen were, Tahrike Carter (13), Tom DeCiantis (9), Chris Burton (8), Jacob Page (3), KadeemFancis (3), and Brandon Hill (2). Next up for the Anchormen is Little East Conference Rival UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday February 7, at 7:30 p.m. the game can be heard on www.ricradio.org. Coach Walsh on the up coming contest “We have to establish the level of intensity in the game, match their physicality, and be the tougher team”.
