Isaac Bean
Sports Editor
Rhode Island College’s Men’s Basketball team opened their season this week with two games on the road. There was a lot to look forward to as this is the first season with new head coach Sam Ferry. Coach Ferry’s team looked to get off to a hot start.
The Anchormen opened on the road against Fitchburg State on Wednesday. Coach Ferry’s team started off on fire. The Anchormen opened the game with a 14-2 run early in the first half. After a great early start, it looked like it would be a blowout win for the Anchormen. That was not the case as Falcons were able to crawl back into the game slowly. At the conclusion of the first half ,the Anchormen were on top 26-20.
Coming out of halftime, both teams were exchanging blows. Everytime the Anchormen looked like they were about to put the Falcons away, the Falcons would come back with a little run. The Falcons eventually tied the game up at 37-37 with a 12:39 left in the half. As all momentum was on the Falcons, the Anchormen needed a response. The Anchormen were able to respond with a 14- 4 rally to give the Anchormen a 51-41 with 4:41 left in the game. They were able to hold onto the lead and beat the Falcons by a score of 63-54.
Deyshawn Tengbeh was all over the court in this win. Scoring twenty one points and having eleven rebounds. Ousmane Kourouma was also a force to be reckoned with. The senior forward was able to have an incredible seventeen rebounds, while also being a key contributor on the offensive side scoring fifteen points. These two were a big reason why the Anchormen were able to start off 1-0.
The Anchormen had to follow up that impressive season opener with another road game against MIT on Friday. The game started off very competitive. Each team was exchanging baskets. The score was eventually tied at 19-19 with 9:26 left in the first half. After the competitive early start, Anchormen started to go on a run taking 41-35 lead going into halftime.
The Anchormen came out on a roll in the second half. They were looking absolutely dominant. The Beavers looked like they did not have a chance with how well the Anchormen were playing on both offense and defense. The Anchormen had a 67-52 lead with 9:13 left in the game. A fifteen point lead is pretty comfortable when it comes to basketball. The Anchormen would add to that lead. The lead got as high as twenty eight points. The Beavers were able to make the score competitive, as they did not give up. In the end the Anchormen advanced to 2-0 on the season and beat MIT by a score of 90-81.
Tengbeh had another impressive performance in this game. For the second straight game, the junior led the team in scoring. Tengbeh scored nineteen points. Kourouma had another great game as well. Scoring sixteen points as well as being the teams top rebounder with twelve total rebounds. KJ Uga also had double digit points as the senior scored thirteen points on the day.
Sam Ferry has had an impressive debut as the new head coach of the Anchormen. Ferry looks to keep the Anchormen rolling as they play at Regis College on Tuesday.