On Saturday Nov. 19 NECC Knights defeated Mass Bay 109 to 79 in the Sport and Fitness Center on the Haverhill Campus.
Before the game I asked NECC basketball head coach Darren Stratton what they have to do to have a strong first half to pressure the other team and not have pressure on them pressure by trailing at the half ?
“… It wasn’t just this first half (against Quincy down by 11) it was against Suffolk, Essex it came out okay a little bet better even at the game before that against Qunsig(amond), we were struggling ….we are yet to put a complete game together. We put spurts together which is for four or five minute spurts but we are yet to put a complete half or a complete game together. That we are trying to evolve, trying to do that. We are looking at us as a coaching staff trying to maybe push the right buttons …. We are only one fifth in our season, we still have more than three quarters in our season left to go so we are trying to find what buttons to push the right guys trying to find the right rotations … hopefully we get everything figured out by ten or 11 games in,” he said.
The game started at 12:02. The Knights won the tip off.
The Knights opened the game with a 5-0 run and a 31-13 run to start the game.
After the game I asked Cristian Kinsley of Lawrence how he is a good three point shooter as every time he shoots for three it is rare that he will miss.
“It’s confidence it’s that the way it is the key to it is confidence that all it is,” he said.
The Knights started aggressive, they were hungry and the Knights were looking to have a strong first half to carry on to the second half.
It was looking that way for the first nine minutes of the ball game.
Then everything was shifting to Mass Bay’s side as Mass Bay was stealing the ball from the Knights and the Knights were fouling as well that Mass Bay went to the free throw line.
Mass Bay went on a 19 to 6 run against the Knights. That cut the Knights deficit from an 18 point lead to a five point lead, the Knights had a 37 to 32 point lead.
Knights called a 30 second time out so they could regroup and played basketball like they did in the first nine minutes of the game unlike the middle minutes of the first half.
After the time out the Knights went on a 15 to 2 run and everything was clicking for them as they had a 18 point lead and the score was 52 to 34. Then Mass Bay called a full time out.
Mass Bay finished the first half with a 15 to 8 run against the Knights.
The Knights went in their locker room at the half with an11 points lead, the score was 60 to 49. Knights 13 fouls in the first half Mass Bay 10.
“I felt Luis (Reynoso) didn’t have his best game, and it is good to see other guys step up around him. I thought R2 (Mehmet Asik) played extremely well, I thought Cristian Kinsley was a difference maker today, I don’t know if you saw but I moved him to point guard. I thought traditional to offense was much
better running point and I think I am going to move forward throughout the year doing that…” Stratton said after the game.
Stratton also told me that he was upset that his players gave up 49 points at the half.
In the second half the Knights went on a 20 to 11 run as the Knights was up 83 to 60.
The game eventually was 85 to 68 in favor of the Knights in the final seven minutes of the game. The Knights went on an absolutely tear as they finished with a 34 to 9 run against Mass Bay to end the game.
After the game I talked to Metin Yavuz of Istanbul, Turkey. I ask him what was his approach heading into this afternoon’s contest against Mass Bay?
“Just follow the approach that coach told us in the locker room we should’ve played better defense. We did a very decent job offensively, we knock down shots, finding the right shots, people were in the right spot in the right time so it came out 109 points total so it was one of our best offensive games but defensively we should’ve done better,” he said.
The Knights will return to the court a week from today on Nov. 26 for “NECC TD Bank Turkey Classic” as they will host SUNY Adirondack.
