RIC Men’s Basketball Sails Past Plymouth State At Home

January 17, 2015 9:39 pm

Rhode Island College Press Release

Providence, R.I. — Senior forward Chris Burton (New Rochelle, NY) scored 17 points while fellow senior, guard Eric Alleyne (Watertown, MA) chipped in 16 more points as the Rhode Island College men’s basketball team notched a 68-53 victory over Little East foe Plymouth State at The Murray Center on Saturday afternoon.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball early with Plymouth State (5-10, 0-5 LEC) holding an 11-6 advantage after 10:29 had elapsed in the half. Rhode Island College (12-3, 4-1 LEC) chipped away with an offensive rebound and put back from sophomore forward Terrance Tribble (White Plains, NY) with 8:28 to play knotted the score at 11 apiece. The Panthers pushed their lead to five, 20-15, when sophomore forward Jack Preston (Nashua, NH) nailed a jumper off a feed from sophomore guard Nathan Clarke (Reading, MA). The Anchormen responded, and a jumper by Burton with 30 seconds left in the half put RIC up, 30-25, before a late jumper by PSU made the score 30-27 entering the half.

The opening five minutes of the second half was the Chris Burton show as the senior tallied 10 points to help push the RIC lead to 14, 46-32, with 15:02 remaining. The Anchormen continued to put pressure on both ends of the court, pushing their lead to 15 with 9:27 to play. The Panthers cut the lead down to 10, but that is as close as they would get as the RIC defense buckled down and pushed the margin of victory to 15, 68-53.

The Panthers were led by Preston’s game-high 21 points and four rebounds. Sophomore guard Curtis Arsenault (Berlin, NH) also scored in double figures, tossing in 10 in the defeat. The Panthers shot 41.7 percent (20-for-48) from the field while shooting 27.3 percent (3-for-11) from behind the arc and 83.3 percent (10-for-12) from the free throw line.

RIC was paced by Burton’s 17 points and three steals while Alleyne did it all, scoring 16 points, handing out eight assists and hauling in six rebounds. The Anchormen shot 46.2 percent (24-for-52) from the field and 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from three for the game. They shot a scorching 86.7 percent (13-for-15) from the charity stripe as a team.

The Anchormen return to action on January 20 when they host Western Connecticut State in Little East action. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.