Game 1:
Rivier College – 78
Bard College – 51
Game 2:
Colby-Sawyer College – 67
Daniel Webster College – 64
Nashua, NH – An exciting first day to the Rivier College All Metals Industries/Coca-Cola Tip Off Basketball Tournament finished with Rivier College and Colby-Sawyer College advancing to tomorrows championship game at 2:00 PM. The host Raiders defeated Bard College 78-51 in the first game of the day and Colby-Sawyer narrowly escaped a surging Daniel Webster squad 67-64 in game two.
The Raider led from start to finish in the first game of the day, jumping out to an 8-0 lead to start the game and quickly expanding on that lead to 13 points at 23-10 after a three pointer by sophomore Brian Troy (Keene, NH). The first half was dominated by the bigger Rivier squad, as they outshot the Raptors 20-4 in total field goals and out rebounded them 24-17 in the first half alone. The one bright spot for the Raptors in the first half was their ability to get to the foul line, getting 13 chances from the free stripe and converting on 12 of those shots. The Raiders went to halftime with a 27 point lead, 48-21, after shooting 52.6% from the field, going 20-38 in total shots and 5-11 from three point range.
After a number of missed shots to open up the second half and a number of easy fouls put the Raiders on their heels coming out of halftime. Rivier was forced to replace most of the starting line-up just 5 minutes into the second frame, allowing the bench to try to keep the lead, but the Raptors took full advantage of the second string's lack of experience and started to chip away at the lead. After a three pointer by Bards Frank Stortini (Red Hook, NY) and a free throw made by Matt Shubert (Westchester, PA), the Raptors found themselves trailing by 17 with all of the momentum and 10 minutes left to play. Not willing to take any chance of the game getting closer, Coach Morissette subbed back in the entire starting line-up at once to slow the surging Bard team. A quick 7-0 run by the Raiders once again squashed the hopes of the Raptors, extending the Rivier lead back over 20 points. With a 70-45 lead with just under 5 minutes to play, Morissette felt comfortable enough to send in the rest of the bench, allowing 16 of the Raiders 17 players to get some action in the game. The bench showed some great ball movement and added another 8 points before the game was done, highlighted by a three pointer from junior Joe Granato (Arlington, MA), a layup from sophomore Mike Polley (Nashua, NH) and a jump shot by Taylor Snider to finish the game with the Raiders up 78-51.
The Raiders had four players in double figures with junior Nick Bean (E. Longmeadow, MA) leading all Raiders with 15 points and 5 assists, going 4-13 from the three point line. Brothers Don Poitras and Tom Poitras (Bow, NH) each scored 11 points with the older brother, Don, leading the way in rebounds with 12 and Tom picking up 9. Sophomore Elisha Robinson (Proctor, VT) tacked on 10 points, going 5-11 from the floor. Stortini led the Raptors with a game high 19 points while Shubert added 15 in the setback. The win improves the Raiders to 1-1 on the young season as Bard falls to 0-2 to open up their 2010-11 campaign.
Game two looked like it was going to be the same type of game as a three pointer by Daniel Webster's Chris Hanson (Salem, MA) to open the game was the only Eagle basket for the first 7 minutes of the game. Colby-Sawyer was able to get out to a 17-3 advantage following an Eddie Tirabassi (Portland, ME) three pointer before DWC was able to pick two more points, free throws by Hanson. However, Daniel Webster would not get discouraged, as the bench was able to provide a spark, scoring 19 collective points in the half, capped off by a John Hickson (Springfield, MA) jumper with time winding down to pull the Eagles to within 8 at 38-30 going into the locker room.
Colby-Sawyer was able to hold a 7-10 point advantage for most of the second half with a jump shot by freshman Robbie Burke (Chesire, ME) giving the Chargers a 65-55 lead with 3:48 left to play. Still, the Eagles were not ready to give up. A 9-0 run by the Eagles, capped off by an Eric Suarez (Brooklyn, NY) lay-up, made it just a 1 point game with only 51 seconds to play. With the Daniel Webster fans as loud as they could be to push their team to victory, it was a calm lay-up by Charger forward Robbie Burke that gave Colby-Sawyer a 3 point lead with 27 seconds left. Daniel Webster held the ball until there was just 11 seconds left, when Hanson let a three pointer fly that bounced off the rim. Suarez came down with the rebound and kicked the ball outside to give the Eagles another chance at it, but a well defended Omari Wright (Laurelton, NY) couldn't get a clean look from the corner and missed the tying shot as the Chargers held on 67-64.
Colby-Sawyer's Burke led all scorers with 20 points going 9-14 from the floor and 6-9 at the foul line, he also added 11 rebounds. Sophomore Corey Willis (Easton, MA) chipped in with 11 points and 4 rebounds while Roberts and Will Bardaglio (Wayne, ME) each had 7 points. Chris Hanson led the Eagles with 16 points and 7 rebounds, going 4-8 from three point range, while Keith Speed (Columbus, OH) added 14 points in the loss. The Chargers pick up their first win of the season and improve to 1-1 while the Eagles lose their first game to fall to 1-1.
The Eagles will take on Bard College in tomorrows consolation game at 12:00 PM while Rivier and Colby-Sawyer will match up in the Championship game at 2:00 PM.
