Haverhill, MA (December 8, 2022) - In one of premier NJCAA matchups on the Thursday night docket, the 11th ranked Knights took down the 12th ranked and previously unbeaten Tigers of Roxbury Community College by a final score of 87-72. Winners of 10 straight, NECC moves to 14-1 on the season, and a remains unbeaten and in sole possession of first place in Region 21 at 9-0.
The opening 10 minutes of the game were a back and forth battle, before the Knights were able to open up a 14 point halftime advantage at 40-26. The second half was much of the same in a back and forth with Roxbury able to cut the NECC lead to four, at the midway point, before NECC began to open up a lead that ranged from nine to 11 points for the games closing stretch.
Three Knights scored in double figures led by Ryan Pacy (Salem, NH) who scored a game-high 21 points, 19 of which came in the second half. After being held to season low seven points on Tuesday night Luis Reynoso (Lawrence) bounced back with 19 points. Edwin SamMBaka (Paris, FR) added 13 points.
For Reynoso, it was his 10th double-double effort of the season as he piled up 17 rebounds and added two blocked shots and three steals to fill the stat sheet.
The Knights are idle for 10 days as they will conclude the fall semester next Saturday when they travel to Holyoke before returning home on January 12 following the holiday break.