 "Photo:")
The second annual Anchor versus WXIN basketball game did little to quench the long-time rivalry between the two largest media organizations on campus. If anything, the match only served to inspire a whole new level of competition.
The game, which was attended by more than 70 students and several alumni last Thursday night, March 20, on the center court at the Recreation Center, marked just the second time that WXIN Rhode Island College Radio and The Anchor have faced off in friendly competition in recent memory. The Anchor team, who in a narrow upset victory defeated WXIN 38-33 in a match last spring, took last week's contest by a final score of 47-37.
Since last year's Anchor victory, there has been much talk of a rematch from members of both organizations. According to WXIN General Manager and team captain Michael McKenna, an agreement on the logistics of the game was reached over one month ago between himself and Anchor captains Bob Kazarian and Kam Spaulding. As part of the conversation, both sides agreed that no current or former RIC Anchormen NCAA players could participate, regardless of their membership in either media organization. Additionally, rosters were swapped between each team prior to the game.
WXIN jumped out to an early lead when Rui Montilla scored a two-pointer on the game's first possession. The radio station's team, adorned in custom orange jerseys with their DJ names on the back, opened up a 4-0 lead on a shot made by McKenna, after which Anthony "Tony P." Pierlioni entered the game for The Anchor's Mike Aiello.
For McKenna and WXIN, this was a major turning point in the game.
"Tony's presence on the court paralyzed the XIN squad," McKenna said. "His entrance into the game killed our spirit and momentum. We couldn't get the ball down low."
Pierlioni, who was the tallest player on last year's Little East Champion Anchormen, is a 6'9" 245-pound staff comic artist for The Anchor, notable for working with the Mentally Thrill series that is printed weekly. According to WXIN, he was not on the roster submitted by the Anchor captains, and both sides had agreed that he would not be allowed to play prior to the game.
"We flat out said that we didn't want him to play," said Anchor captain and player-coach Kam Spaulding. "We had all agreed that it would be unfair if he played, and he was only supposed to referee."
For WXIN, the entrance of Pierlioni was an insult.
"If the big kid didn't play, we would have won," said McKenna, who at 6'3" and 150 lbs. is the tallest member of the WXIN squad. "People should be man enough to acknowledge an agreement and stand by their word. I tried to get Bob's attention, but he didn't acknowledge me, so I just said to my team, 'Alright, let's just play.' My theory was that if we didn't let him play and we won, then the Anchor would have complained."
Spaulding and Kazarian said they asked Pierlioni not to play right before the game, but he refused to be kept off the court.
Kazarian said he told WXIN to call a timeout when Pierlioni came on the floor, as they had the ball at the time. "If WXIN walked off the court, I would have walked off with them, but they didn't so we kept playing," Kazarian commented. "When the 6'9" kid gets on the floor, it's not like we're going to push him off."
Pierlioni's presence quickly amounted to an advantage for The Anchor, as he scored all 12 of his team's points for the half by way of six lay-ups. WXIN countered with a three-pointer from Michael Fratus and Montilla added a jumper, but WXIN went to the locker room down 12-9 at the half.
Before play resumed, WXIN coach and alum Kevin McKenna, who dressed in a suit and tie and traveled from Woburn, Mass. to be with the team, made comments to RIC-TV reporters at the game about the advantage he felt Pierlioni gave to The Anchor. The second 16-minute half opened, however, with Anchor players scoring ten unanswered points, all without Pierlioni on the court.
Almost at the onset of the half, Spaulding took a hard fall on his left hand. Though he kept playing the remainder of the game, X-rays afterward revealed that he had a broken wrist.
"I got fouled every time I touched the ball - but we just kept playing," Spaulding said.
WXIN made no secret of their intent to keep the game as physical as possible and there was much jostling from both sides. For the most part, the referees ignored the contact.
Down 35-16 with their largest of the night, WXIN was nearly absent on both sides of the ball throughout the entire third quarter. The game as a whole was marked by failed opportunities for the radio station team who had a very low shot percentage, particularly from behind the three-point line, and a failure to manage the clock with time left to make a comeback late in the second half.
The Anchor captains, though, held some of their opponents in high regard.
"McKenna was outstanding - I had no energy to cover him," Kazarian said. "He was the guy we could not stop." McKenna was the top scorer in the game by far, leading with 22 points overall, including 20 late in the second half. Michael Fratus, who hit 3 three-pointers, was second on the team, followed by Rui Montilla with 4 points and Levi Garrett with 2.
For the Anchor, Kazarian's four early second half jump shots made up much of the difference in the game, leading his team in scoring with 12 points. Craig Killenway finished with 11 total points, Joe Robillard hit 2 three-point shots and totaled 8 points overall, and Spaulding and Aiello had two points apiece. Pierlioni played briefly in the second, but finished the night with just his 12 points from the first half.
Some in the contest didn't seem to live up to the hype.
"Their best offense was when Nigel [Evangelista] was off the ball," Spaulding noted. "Levi Garrett played well in the game, but Rui was better than what we saw - he had a tough night. WXIN lost because they weren't in shape. We knew they couldn't run with us for 32 minutes."
"It's part of the game - everyone hypes themselves up," Kazarian added.
McKenna felt otherwise. "The people that talked the most trash either didn't score any points or went home with a broken wrist," he said.
The controversial addition of Pierlioni to the Anchor's team has only served to leave both sides with something more to prove, and there has been talk of a rematch to take place before the end of the year.
Kazarian, who was ill that night, talked about his frustration. "I played horribly in the first half and I knew I could do better," he said. "I was upset when Pierlioni came on the court - we apologized and called off all bets, but I still shook my head ever time he scored. We had an unfair advantage, but XIN let us eat up the clock the last five minutes."
"If we play again, we need to have real refs - there was a lot of physical contact," added Spaulding.
There was a bet, stated on the record at a recent Student Parliament meeting, that Nigel Evangelista would shave his head if the Anchor defeated WXIN. Evangelista still had a full head of hair at press time.
McKenna summed up his team's performance plainly. "At the end of the game I was proud of my team. Even though emotions ran rampant in the middle of the game, at the end we walked out with our heads held high."
Kazarian felt the victory was incomplete. "I was upset because I wanted it to be fun for both teams," he said. "I was happy we won, but upset knowing what it was going to entail. I would like to play them again."
WXIN Roster
Coach: Kevin "Coach K" McKenna Captain: #21 Michael "Seamus" McKenna #20 Nigel "Big Daddy" Evangelista #52 Levi "Luscious" Garrett #5 Rui "Young Che" Montilla #3 Rob "Triple D" Duguay #13 Lawrence "Electric L" Cunningham #11 Michael "Meatball" Fratus #7 Christopher "Boss" Buonanno
Anchor Roster
Coach/Captain: Kameron Spaulding Co-Captain: Bob Kazarian Joe Robillard Mike Simeone Aaron Sousa Mike Aiello Craig Killenway Anthony Pierlioni
Be the first to comment on this article!