(Warwick, RI) The Nassau Men's Basketball team kicked off their first game of the 2019-2020 season at the CCRI Invitational. Their first of two games was against home hosts CC of Rhode Island.
The Lions came out with a very competitive first half. They put up 38 points and allowed 33 from CCRI before halftime. The battle continued in the second half. CCRI's Mikey Gamble hit a streak and scored all 13 of his points in the second half. Nassau's
Javen Soto went 3 for 3 from the field and scored a total of 7 points to help the Lions sustain their 5 point lead.
Qai Kellman hit 4 consecutive free throws late in the game to seal the 74-69 victory.
Aronis Espinal, led Nassau with 14 points and 5 rebounds.
Darius Celestin also had a standout game, finishing with 11 points and 3 rebounds, while teammate
Sahdique Watkins tallied 11 points and 3 assists.
The next opponent in the tournament, was Roxbury CC. Nassau dominated the Tigers in the first half, holding them to only 15 points. By halftime, Nassau was leading 32-15. A total of 11 NCC players scored in the first 20 minutes, led by
Patrick Gardner with 6. Moving on to the second half, Nassau extended their lead to as many as 21 points, but Roxbury was't done yet. They made a run late in the half to make it just a 5 point game with about 8 minutes left. Roxbury impressively hit 8 of 14 three pointers during their second half run, but the Lions were able to hold them off and pull out the victory 63-52. Nassau was led by
Patrick Gardner who had 15 points and 10 rebounds and
Javen Soto who had 11 points and 8 rebounds.
Head Coach
A.J. Wynder commented at the conclusion of the tournament, "For our first tournament of the season, the men came out and played really well together. Their high energy and extra effort added to a solid team defense produced the types of victories we hope to continue throughout the season. We just have to remember to take care of business the entire game. We can't get complacent and let teams take advantage of that."
The Lions will be back in action on Thursday as they take on their first conference game of the season against Queensborough.
