Sports

Knights basketball off to a 4-2 start

 

Last season, the NECC Knights basketball team ended the season with a record of 12-16, leaving much to be desired.

This season, the Knights are off to a fast 4-2 start. They opened the season at NHTI with a 91-68 win. Matthew Jameson was the top scorer with 18 points, with Andres Hernandez and Dominic Dar right behind scoring 17 and 13 points respectively. Jameson also scored five three-pointers.

In the second game of the season, the Knights faced Great Bay Community College at Great Bay. There was more all-around scoring in this game, with everyone getting a piece of the pie. Dar scored a team-high 14 points. The Knights got the “W,” beating Great Bay 105-55.

The first two games saw the Knights greatly improve on last season’s rebound problem, which coach Darren Stratton stressed the importance of in the preseason. There were 51 total rebounds between the two games, with Jonathan Paulino having 29 of them.

The first loss of the season happened at the Knights home opener against Dean College. They lost 103-83. Jameson kept rolling though, scoring five three-pointers and 20 points in the game.

The Knights got back on track after their first loss, beating Daniel Webster 89-62 at home. NECC got off to a good start getting up 20-9 halfway through the first. Daniel Webster had some passionate fans at the game who were cheering in the first half but by the second half the Eagles were down 54-24 and stayed down by 30 points for most of the remainder of the game. The Knights showed their growing defensive ability all game long. Paulino had 13 rebounds and Julio Vicente had 5 steals.

NECC then went on to beat MassBay Community College on Veterans day, 99-91, in their closest game of the season. Jameson scored 19 points and Bryan Morales scored 18. In addition, Morales hit four three-pointers.

On Saturday, Nov. 14, the Knights fell to Holyoke Community College, 87-82. Hernandez scored 20 points in the losing effort.

The Knights upcoming games are: Nov. 17 vs. Massasoit, Nov. 19 at Bristol Community College, Nov. 21 vs. UConn at Avery Point and Nov. 24 at Quinsigamond Community College.