JOHNSTOWN – Wednesday night's game in the Raiders Den was predicted to be a close one, and it was. The North Country CC Saints and FM had nearly identical season records, and the game turned out to be as close as the teams' marks. 

FM got off to a good start. Raheem Small sank a three-pointer from the right side. Tyrone Davis sank a long two. Barceem Dukes put in his own rebound. Marquis Edwards added a pair of points. Kyle Giddings scored. Shaleek Randolph sank two free throws, and FM led 15-11. 

Photo:  Courtney Darnley sinks a three to put FM in front 54-48 

The Saints, however, are a resilient team. They leapfrogged FM and went in front 19-15. The lead went back and forth for the rest of the first half. Jordan Stewart's three-pointer from the right corner gave FM a 30-22 lead. A three-pointer by Marquis Edwards upped the FM lead to 33-22, but the Saints came marching back. 

FM suffered a major loss with 3:26 left in the half. Guard Tyrone Davis, who is among the team's best players, went down with an ankle injury. He was unable to return to the contest. 

The Saints kept fighting their way back and trailed by just one point, at 41-40, at halftime. 

FM led early in the second half, but NCCC's Frane Larose drained a three-pointer that put the visitors in front 46-45. The fast-paced game went back and forth. A free throw by FM's Dukes knotted the score at 61-all with 10:26 remaining. 

Photo:  Shaleek Randolph is fouled – he sank both FT's 

The game was tied 66-66 when North Country's Langston Cook sank a three, and then teammate Stephen Paulk made an amazingly athletic move to the basket, securing a five-point lead. The visitors had gone ahead to stay. 

FM's Ayodele Akinmola used all-out speed to pour in 10 points in the final 1:09, but it was too little too late. NCCC won 87-82. 

The 13-11 Raiders' next game will be at Clinton CC on Saturday, February 14, with a 3:00 p.m. start. The Cougars' season record is 8-16. 

                  C.J. Bonny, website writer 

Scoring: 

NCCC:  Paulk 3-4-12, Cook 11-4-31, Larose 6-4-19, Saintilus 6-6-18, Grcic 1-0-2, Gullotta 1-2-5; Totals 28-20-87 

Three-point goals:  11 (Paulk 2, Cook 5, Larose 3, Gullotta) 

FMCC:  Stewart 4-0-11, Akinmola 5-6-17, Randolph 1-4-6, Darnley 2-0-5, Dukes 4-1-9, Giddings 2-2-6, D. Davis 1-1-3, M. Edwards 7-0-16, Small 1-0-3,     T. Davis 3-0-6; Totals 30-14-82 

Three-point goals:  8 (Stewart 3, Akinmola, Darnley, M. Edwards 2, Small) 

Halftime:  FMCC 41 – NCCC 40 

Records:  NCCC 14-11 (7-7), FMCC 13-11 (7-8) 

Photo:  The FM Dance Team entertained at halftime, with the Raiders leading 41-40

 

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