Men’s Basketball – Lakers Drop Season Opener at Home to Monroe CC
CANANDAIGUA – The Lakers kicked off their 2012-13 season last night at home by hosting Monroe CC in a 7:00 p.m. showdown.
On a night where fans filled the seats at a high capacity, the visiting Tribunes came into FLCC's territory and delivered an 87-52 thumping of the Lakers. Monroe set the tone early on in the first half as it displayed great energy immediately following tip-off.
The Tribunes, who built a 37-24 lead at halftime, played a solid 40 minutes of basketball at Putt Moore Court on Thursday. They only continued to increase their 13-point halftime lead in the second half. In the games' final 20 minutes, Monroe outscored the Lakers – 50-28.
Monroe executed great balance on offense in the away game as it saw five of its players reach double figures in scoring – led by Jahvari Josiah – who poured in 16 points (7-11 FGM-A).
Following Josiah's game-high 16 points with 13 points was his teammate – Greg Williams.
Reuben Berry and Arnold Fripp, a pair of sophomore forwards, both of who stand in at 6'7", each dropped in 12-point nights for the Tribunes. Talk about similar games out of the two. Fripp out-rebounded Berry by just a single board (7 to 6). In terms of blocks, both gentlemen accrued three each in the road win.
The fifth Tribune to score in double figures was Ta-Quan Zimmerman. The guard out of Waterbury, CT, finished the game with 10 points. In addition, he, like Berry, also pulled down 6 rebounds.
Monroe – to go along with its offensive outburst – played excellent on the defensive end of the gymnasium as well on Thursday. To go along with the solid rebounding efforts of Fripp, Berry, and Zimmerman – were the 5 steals that Tashawn Desire grabbed a hold of.
The Lakers, who housed close to a brand new starting lineup in comparison to a year ago, couldn't seem to match the energy that the Tribunes brought to the gym in the opener. On the night, they shot just 38% from the field. Aside from the shaky night in the shooting department, FLCC was haunted by turnovers as it finished the game with 22 of them.
In terms of scoring – the Lakers were led by sophomore forward Sean Carbonell and his 9 points (4-11 FGM-A). The 6'3" athlete also grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds and in addition dished out 3 assists.
FLCC sophomore guard Kelvin Munoz registered 7 points while Nate Miller, Lakers starting center, put up a 6-point, 5-rebound showing in the first contest of his second-year in a Laker uniform.
Freshman Will Arberry added 6 points in defeat for the Lakers.
The shooting barrage that the Tribunes put on came at a 50% clip. They finished the night, as a team, 32-64 from the field.
In their next game, the Lakers will travel to Sanborn, NY on Tuesday (11/6) where they will take on Niagara County CC. That contest is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.