Knights Battleground Week 21

Men’s Basketball:  

With a handful of games left in the season and just 8 playoff seeds to fill, the Knights were looking to get some big time wins to give themselves some cushion ahead of the final week of games.  

On Tuesday, February 11th, the Knights hosted Quinsigamond Community College at home in Warwick. Quinsigamond, just 2-19 on the season, was a chance for Rhode Island to get into rhythm before a big game Thursday night at home vs MassBay. The Knights were able to build a large first half lead thanks to efforts from Kobe Fife (21 points, 6 rebounds) and Devante Abney (16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 3PM). With the lead swelling into the 40’s in the second half, Ibrahim Doumouya (10 points, 4 rebounds) set the tone off the bench for Rhode Island before Connor Chambers (14 points, 13 rebounds - 8 offensive) outmuscled the entire Wyvern defense for multiple second chance opportunities to prevail Rhode Island in a thrilling 86-43 victory.  

The Knights were able to get one day off before MassBay (5-13) traveled to face Rhode Island at home Thursday. Massbay, sitting at 5-13, has been much better since acquiring a new head coach in December, and the Knights wanted to put some MassBay playoff run hopes to rest. CCRI’s offense began scorching from behind the arc but was only able to build so much momentum behind a physical Buccaneer full court pressure and half-court defense. There were 40+ fouls in the game. Heading into halftime, CCRI built a 43-34 lead. In the second half, Rhode Island’s strong shooting performance continued, and the game slowly began getting away from MassBay. CCRI shot 18 for 35 from beyond the arc, a staggering 51%, good for the most threes made in a game this season by the Knights. The shooting flurry was led by Jayden Desimone, (31 points, 8 of 11 3PM) who finished as the games leading scorer, while teammate Kobe Fife (20 points, 8 rebounds) helped extend the lead for Rhode Island. With the Knights foul trouble, big man Jayse De Los Santos (9 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks) gave CCRI valuable minutes of the bench in a 92-66 win.  

The Knights game that was scheduled for Saturday, February 15th at Springfield has been postponed to this Thursday, February 20th at 6 PM in Springfield. The Knights (9-10) currently sit 7th in the Region, and will face 9th seeded Massasoit (7-12) at home in Warwick Tuesday, February 18th at 8 PM and would clinch a playoff berth with a win. They will then see if they can move up in the standings against #5 Springfield (10-9) Thursday night and wrap up the season back in Warwick Saturday February 22nd against #3 Bristol Community College (14-6), which will be Sophomore Day.  

Women’s Basketball:  

Coming into the week 18-5 overall and 12-0 in region play, the Lady Knights looked to keep up the momentum and remain perfect in the region before wrapping up the regular season this upcoming week.  

CCRI had just one game on the schedule for the week, against the Holyoke Cougars on Tuesday night at home. The Knights started the game on a 22-0 run, and would not look back from there. The Lady Knights ran a balanced attack over Holyoke, led by double doubles from Stephanie Walker (13 points, 15 rebounds) and Tatiana Pereira (10 points, 12 rebounds), while teammates Kelsey Hatch and Sydney Waitekus eached chipped in 12 points for Rhode Island. CCRI would win the game and move to 19-5 overall and 13-0 in conference play.  

The Lady Knights final week of the regular season features two home games, starting with Massasoit Community College Tuesday, February 18th at 6 PM, and then will wrap up the season against the Hudson Valley Vikings on Saturday, February 22nd at 12 PM, which will be Sophomore Day for Rhode Island.