On  Dec. 6, the NECC Knights defeated Massasoit Community College 73 to 69 in Julie Muluey Court in Brockton. The Knights picked up another nail-bitter win similar like three days prior in Springfield.

The Knights won the tip off against the Warriors and the game started at 6:32 pm.

The Knights were up 4 to 1 before the Warriors answered back to make this a 5-4 game.

The Knights then followed quickly with a 9-2 run to put the game 13 to 7 in favor of the Knights.

The Warriors made it interesting as they were creeping closer but Ryan Pacy of Salem, New Hampshire, hit a three to make this 24 to 19 in favor of the Knights.

Mehmet “R2”Asik of Ankara, Turkey, got the rebound and made it inside the bucket that increased the Knights’ lead after Warriors hit a three. Asik scored a 2 pointer with a layup.

Edwin SamMbaka of Paris, France, scored a 2 pointer. Luis Reynoso of Lawrence made one of two free throws in.

Cristian Kinsley of Lawrence shot a three and the Knights had a 16-point lead. Reynoso increased that lead to 18, which was the largest lead for the Knights.

The game was then 40-22.

The Warriors made things interesting at the end of the first half going on a run against the Knights as the Knights went into their locker room 49 to 37 with a 12 point lead over the Warriors.

The Knights started the second half with a 5-0 run but then the Knights got lazy and really were playing undisciplined basketball as the Warriors went on a 16-6 run against the Knights before Pacy banged in a two pointer.

“I think tonight we came out to play, it’s just we don’t know how to continue to play like that,” Head Coach Darren Stratton said. “We have spurts that we play great and we have spurts that an eight grade basketball team can beat us, so we got to find some kind of consistency and hopefully it starts in practice where these kids buy in and start practicing harder because Thursday night Roxbury is coming in and if we play like this Roxbury will wipe the floor with us.”

“Yes, real undisciplined basketball we started going more one on one, guys were jacking shots, it just can’t happen, we got away from everything that we do, we just totally got away from and hopefully do some kind of correction tomorrow,” Stratton said.

Darlin Santiago of Salem, Mass., was called from the bench. It was the first time that Santiago was in action after he missed a few amount of games because of injury.

After the Warriors tied at 57 they took their first lead of the game since early on in the first half.

The game was tied again at 61 before the Knights pushed them a four point lead as the score was 65 to 61.

Kinsley hit a two pointer to cut the defect to two as the Knights were down 67 to 65.

After the game Asik told me why the past two games were battles until the end. “I feel like mentally we need to focus and finish strong because we started strong but maybe we are being lazy when we (are)up like 15 to 20 points then at the end of the game is like two or four point game and we just need to keep it strong and keep it serious all game,” Asik said.

Kinsley again this time knocked down a three and a foul as he went hard into the floor in the barricade  where the fans sit in the front row of the stands with just 32.7 second left in the game as the Knights went on to defeat Massasoit 73 to 69.

On Monday, Dec. 5, Men’s Basketball head coach Darren Stratton was named National JUCO coach of the week for the first time ever as basketball head coach.

“It’s a tribute to my staff, the basketball players. Like I told the player’s earlier it’s a tribute to good basketball players that work extremely hard and my staff is bar none on better than one in the country against everyone,” Stratton said.

It was very surprising for  Stratton to be named for this award. “… There are so many good coaches out there so it’s a little different. It’s my first time winning this award but it also is a tribute to what we have going at Northern Essex and like I said before if you don’t put together the right staff or the right people around you or the right basketball players. I could be looking for Mr. Blair to be firing me if I was 1-12 instead of 12-1 right now so good players make good coaches in that aspect, same thing good staff makes good coaches and good players…,” Stratton said.

Stratton told me his wife was the first one to tell him about the news. “…She was the first and from the time she texted me. I must have close to 100 texts at work of my phone blowing up and I didn’t had no idea what was going on but after that you know we understood. I’m glad that people will start to follow Northern Essex Basketball and what we have going here, it’s such a good thing for the young men and the student athletes what we are trying to do here as a basketball program, like I told the players this is their award, not mine and I told them from day one they will tell you I’ll take credit for the losses and I’ll protect them the best that I can and the wins is all them. Coaches put players in position to win games, players go out and execute right now their executing,” he said.

Stratton told me that his ultimate goal beside his player’s graduating and moving on to a four year school is looking to win their first Regional Championship in school program history.

“I have a great coaching staff, I’m going to be honest with you Jose I couldn’t ask for a better coaching staff. I got Coach (Joe) Tardif has been with me for 20 on years he is probably my best friend… then I have Coach (Nick) Nofi who has been a head coach I think in four or five different colleges you know Coach Tardif has been a head coach, Coach Nofi has been a head coach then I have Mala(quias) (Canery) who just got the Women’s (basketball) job who brings a young invaded mind to us then I have my son Cameron (Stratton) as my volunteer assistant my younger son Talon (Stratton) who is my (Team) manager all of these people. A tribute what we are trying to do here…” Stratton said.

The Knights will travel on the road on Tuesday night on Dec. 6 against Massasoit for a 6:30 p.m. tip off before the Knights will return home on Thursday night on Dec. 8 to battle against number 12 nationally ranked in the nation Roxbury Community College tip-off at 6 p.m.

On Saturday, Dec. 3, the NECC Knights defeated Springfield Technical Community College  Rams 59 to 57 in Springfield.

The Knights extended their winning streak to eight straight and remain undefeated in conference division play.

Before the game I asked NECC Basketball head coach, Darren Stratton about their strategy against two of the Rams big guns, Chris Ortiz and Jeremiah Barbosa.

“We’re going to key on Chris Ortiz trying to take him away, we’re going to start Edwin (SamMbaka) out on him and (Jeremiah) Barbosa we’re going to play accordingly Kevin (Monteiro) or Luis (Reynoso) will match up with them and hopefully you know team defensively we won’t let them get hunted we wille be able to get there out going on the floor,” he said.

The game officially started at 1:03 p.m. The Knights won the tip off against Rams.

Nine seconds into the game Mehemet “R2” Asik was in the free throw line where he made both shots in as the Knights had an early 2-0 early advantage.

The Knights started the game on a 6-2 run.

Luis Reynoso of Lawrence was a huge key in Saturday’s win against the Rams as Reynoso scored 23 points during the game.

Cristian Kinsley of Lawrence did not had a good game as he was 0 for 6 in the three point line in the first half and he was 0 for 10 in the entire game.

“Well, you know everyone has their off days but today he might be zero for 10 but the other day he was six for eight or something like that. Everybody has their ups and downs but like the thing is this is a team game,we win as a team we lose as a team…” said Metin Yavuz of Istanbul, Turkey.

The Knights in the first half had an early lead but that lead was swept away and the Knights couldn’t hold a lead during the game until the second half of the game.

Ryan Pacy of Salem, New Hampshire hit a three to cut the Rams’ lead to three as the Knights were trailing 29 to 26.

The Knights were down by four at the half, they were trailing 31 to 27. This is the lowest points that the Knights have scored all season at the half.

“I think that is the fewest scored since I’ve been back,” Stratton said. “27 points I can’t remember the last time we scored 27 points even during the COVID year so it’s something we have to adjust to,” he said.

The second half started with the Knights committing a turn over. The Rams took advantage and scored.

Reynoso scored for two and a foul a chance for a three point play and made it 33-30 in favor of the Rams.

Pacy had a few three pointes in the second half that were key in the game as Pacy put the Knights ahead 39 to 38.

This was the first lead that the Knights had since early in the first half.

That created a mini run for the Knights as Yavuz hit a three pointer followed by Monteiro two pointer the scored was 44 to 38 in favor of the Knights.

The Rams eventually tied it at 44 when Reynoso scored for two and a foul to put the Knights ahead by three in the game.

“My teammates find me in the wide open spot and I felt it was the right shot to take and I took it and made it, it’s a team game like I said, they find me the right spot the right time and I made the shot,” Yavuz said.

The final four to five minutes of the game it was constantly back and forth. It was a war between these two teams. Every shot was important, the game was either tied or one point lead.

Reynoso went to the free throw line and after making both shots in the Knights had a three point lead. The Rams came back as they were leading by a point and the game was 55 to 54.

Reynoso put the Knights on top during the game as the score was 56 to 55.

The Rams made two free throws to put the game 57 to 56.

Reynoso scored for two and a foul as Reynoso completed a three point play to make it 59 to 57, which was the final score of the game.

On Thursday Dec. 1, the NECC Knights defeated CCRI Knights 90 to 76 in Vincent A. Cullen Field in Warwick, Rhode Island.  

The Knights increased their winning streak to seven straight and remain undefeated in conference, division games.  

Before the game I asked NECC Basketball head coach, Darren Stratton if they were going to play the rest of the season against division teams.  

“We wanted to play a tough schedule early on just to get us prepared for our conference play because this is where the game really matters is during this time,” he said.  

The game started at 7:08 p.m. with the Knights of NECC winning the tip off.  

Mehmet “R2” Asik of Ankara, Turkey, put the Knights of NECC up from 2-0. After CCRI took a 3-2 lead in the early stage of the game Cristian Kinsley of Lawrence connected a three pointer to put the Knights up 5 to 3.  

It was back and forth in the early minutes of the game. CCRI was completely dominate on the Knights on scoring for three.  

“They had nine three pointers I think, eight or nine in the first half, we just weren’t closing out well. I think tribute to CCRI they move the ball and shot the ball very well and we adjusted in the second half,” Stratton said.  

Ryan Pacy of Salem, New Hampshire, was playing in his first game back after missing a couple games with the flu.  

“It was tough I didn’t get out of bed in about five days, didn’t eat, lost about 10 pounds, I didn’t do anything,” Pacy said.  

The Knights of NECC started a run midway through the first period when they were up 18 to 16.  

Eventually they were down by seven but the Knights quickly went to work when Kinsley shot a three to put the Knights on top 30 to 29.  

At the end of the first half Knights of CCRI made things really interesting against the Knights of NECC. NECC Knights almost blow the lead late in the first half that tied the game at 42.  

Thanks to Metin Yavuz of Istanbul, Turkey, and Kinsley the Knights of NECC had a four point lead when they were in their locker room. The Knights of NECC were up 46 to 42 at half time.  

The second half of the game started with a steal by Luis Reynoso of Lawrence who scored 24 points in the Knights win over CCRI on Thursday night.  

Reynoso with a steal passed it to Tre Fite of Massillon, Ohio who found Kevin Monteiro of Somerville that increased the Knights lead to six.   

Edwin SamMbaka of Paris, France, followed with a two pointer.  

The Knights were in a mini run against CCRI.  

Then CCRI came back and the Knights of NECC almost blew a 11 point lead as the game was 62 to 59 in favor of the Knights.  

Angel Herrera of Lawrence knocked down a three after CCRI attacked with four more points and Kinsley connected with a three pointer of his own.  

The Knights of NECC largest lead of the game was 17 in two different occasions when they were up 88 to 71 in the game and 90 to 73.  

On Tuesday Nov. 29, NECC Knights defeated Bristol Community College Bayhawks 79 to 69. It was Pack the Stands Fan Fest at the game. The Knights extended their winning streak to six games.

Before the game NECC Basketball head coach, Darren Stratton was giving me injury updates.“I don’t think (Ryan) Pacy will be in uniform tonight,” he said. Phillip (Cunningham) is out and also Jeremiah (Melendez) is still out. We hopefully ….get one or two of those kids back by Thursday against CCRI. As far as tonight’s game actually we have four players that are out. ? Darlin Santiago I don’t know if you saw towards the end of the minutes of Suffolk game he pulled his hamstring so he won’t be available at least for a week or two weeks until it tries to heal to get him through,” Stratton said.

Stratton also told me before the game that Melendez went for a light workout and it went well and Cunningham is a high ankle sprain but the good thing is that the swelling has come down. Pacy is still battling with the flu.

The Knights won the tip off and the game started at 6:02 p.m.

The Knights started the game scoring the first four points before Bayhawks attacked and scored the next five that made the game five to four in favor of the Bayhawks.

Luis Reynoso of Lawrence banged in a three pointer that put the Knights ahead.

Bayhawks tied it with two free throws.

Reynoso scored the next two two points shot for the Knights. That made it 11 to 7.

Bayhawks went on a 14-3 run that ended with Peter Lopata of Groveland who scored on a two pointer.

The Knights were trailing 21 to 18 when Cristian Kinsley of Lawrence went on a tear, scoring on three pointers in four different times in a span of less than two minutes.

“I think Cristian was the difference maker tonight. I felt Luis didn’t play well, I felt I could go down the line. I think if Cristian doesn’t shoot the ball the way he did and control the game and draw coverages. I think we (would lose) this basketball game today…,” Stratton said.

That forced Bayhawks to called a full time out and the Knights bench was hyped, they were energized as the Knights had an eight point lead on the Bayhawks, 32 to 24 was the score with 6:49 left remaining in the period.

The Bayhawks were inching closer as the Knights had a five point lead less than four minutes to play in the first half of the game when Reynoso scored for two to increase the Knights lead to seven. That started the Knights 11-0 run to close the first half.

The Knights were up by 15 when they went to their locker rooms at half time with a 45-30 lead. The Knights had four fouls and the Bayhawks three.

The Knights began the second half with a 5-0 run that increased the Knights lead to 20, which was the largest lead for the Knights in this entire game when they were up 50 to 30.

When the game was 52 to 33 the Knights almost blew the lead as the Bayhawks went on a 19 to 2 run against the Knights to make it 54 to 52, making it a two point game still in the Knights favor.

“I felt today it was our worst performance of the year. I think it’s worst than what we lost in Suffolk Community College. I think we need a reality check on some of these guys, some of these guys are walking , thinking just place some up and go out and win and that’s not the case. We need guys that work hard on both ends of the floor. We have a lot of guys uncharacteristically just getting technical, we are trying to get the blame on everyone else but our self,” Stratton said.

Fast forward in the second half when the game was 69-62 with less than three minutes to play Kinsley hit another three to increase the Knights lead by 10.

Knights basketball player Edwin SamMbaka of Paris, France told me that they need to be ready for Thursday game against Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) “We just got to(stay) focused, trust our self, listen to coach and will be alright,” he said.

The Knights ended their five game home stand, the first home stand of the season, by going 5-0.