PLATTSBURGH – The Raiders ran to victory at Clinton Community College on Saturday afternoon, and freshman Ayodele Akinmola led them. FM's offense typically has balanced scoring, but on Saturday Akinmola had a great scoring touch, so his teammates passed the ball to him often and he turned those opportunities into points.
The contest was a close one, which was no surprise to the Raiders' coaches. On January 15, the Cougars had pushed FM into overtime when the two teams met in the Raiders Den. Further, in Saturday's rematch in New York's far north, FM would be without standout guard Tyrone Davis, who is recovering from an ankle injury.
Photo: Kyle Giddings scores – Giddings had a 10-point and 10-rebound game
Prior to Saturday's game, FM Head Coach Ed Collar pointed out that Clinton had played a lot of close games this season and has established themselves as one of the best shooting teams in the region. Collar's assessment was proved correct in the opening minutes of play.
Photo: Dondre Davis drives
The game began with Raheem Small passing to Kyle Giddings for a two-point basket, but Clinton quickly answered with a three-pointer. Giddings grabbed a rebound and scored again, but the Cougars hit another shot from beyond the arc. Then another. And another. Clinton connected on all of their first five three-point attempts and grabbed a quick 20-8 lead.
FM's Akinmola then sank a big three-pointer from the right corner, and his great scoring spree had begun. He hit another from that same corner, and Clinton's lead was 25-16.
Several of the Raiders were playing well. Marquis Edwards hit a three from the left corner. Akinmola then sank another from nearly the same spot. Then he drained another trey from the left side. The Cougars led 33-27.
Jordan Stewart stole the ball and sprinted in for two. Akinmola fired in another field goal. He then drew two shooting fouls in quick succession and sank three of the free throws, regaining the lead for FM, at 36-35.
The lead changed hands one more time, but Small's close-in shot put FM ahead 40-39, and the Raiders led the rest of the way.
Akinmola scored FM's final four points of the first half, giving him a remarkable total of 23 points in 20 minutes. Further, Akinmola had scored 10 points in the final 1:09 of FM's game with North Country on Wednesday. In all, Akinmola had scored 33 points in just over 21 minutes of basketball.
Photo: Ayodele Akinmola scoring
The Raiders opened the second half with baskets by Giddings, Edwards, and Small. FM led 50-42, but the Cougars never quit.
Barceem Dukes took an inbounding pass from Akinmola and gave FM a 57-46 lead. Shaleek Randolph drove, was fouled, and sank a free throw. (See photo at the bottom of this webpage.) Stewart increased the lead to 71-59, but the Cougars narrowed that gap. With 1:27 left in the game, the home team had scored seven unanswered points and trailed by just five, at 71-66.
Both teams played tough in crunch time. With the score 74-68, FM's Dukes grabbed a huge defensive rebound that virtually insured the win. The final score was 75-70.
The Raiders are now 14-11 overall and 8-8 in Mountain Valley Conference play. They will host the Vikings of Hudson Valley CC on Wednesday, Feb 18, in a 7:00 p.m. game.
C.J. Bonny, website writer
Scoring:
FMCC: Stewart 3-0-6, Akinmola 10-8-32, Randolph 1-2-4, Darnley 1-0-2, Dukes 3-0-6, Giddings 5-0-10, D. Davis 0-3-3, M. Edwards 3-1-8, Small 2-0-4; Totals 29-14-75
Three-point goals: 5 (Akinmola 4, M. Edwards)
Clinton: Lamboy 1-0-3, Colon 5-0-13, Castro 7-5-20, Payne 8-2-21, Ward Johnson 0-2-2, Brooks 2-2-6, Manor 2-1-5; Totals 25-12-70
Three-point goals: 8 (Lamboy, Colon 3, Castro, Payne 3)
Halftime: FMCC 44 – Clinton 42
Records: FMCC 14-11 (8-8), Clinton 9-17 (3-13)
Photo: Shaleek Randolph drives through the paint
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