WARWICK, R.I. ---- The CCRI Knights used offensive outbursts to start each half, to defeat the Massasoit men's basketball team 89-64 on Thursday night.
Massasoit (8-11, 1-2) hosts Springfield Tech on Saturday at 1 p.m. as the Warriors are in the hunt for a Massachusetts Community College Athletic Conference (MCCAC) Tournament berth.
The Knights (12-12, 2-1) came out on fire against the Warriors' zone, draining their first eight shots including, featuring five 3-pointers. The hot shooting put Massasoit in an early 25-11 hole with 13:38 remaining in the opening stanza.
A Jaheel Moise (Brockton) layup with 5:19 remaining pulled the Warriors within single digits, 35-26, but would get no closer in the first half.
CCRI led 46-33 at the break.
After intermission, the Knights exploded on a 17-3 run to put the game out of reach to even the season series with the Warriors at 1-1.
Trey Jones (Mattapan) led Massasoit with 22 points, nine assists and five rebounds.
Moise and Leland Jackson (Brockton) each added 11 points apiece, both shooting 5-for-9 from the floor. Moise added eight boards and four blocks to his stat line.
Dashawn Brathwaite (Somerville) chipped in with a pair of 3s in the loss.
Grant Gillis topped the Knights with 21 points as three teammates added 14 points each. In total, CCRI made 10 3-pointers.