MASSINGALE LEADS RAIDERS TO VICTORY
Monday, July 16, 2012
The bottom-placed Mount Gambier Pioneers put a scare into the Knox Under Armour Raiders on Saturday night, but the efforts of CJ Massingale helped rescue the Raiders in a 94-86 victory.
The State Basketball Centre hosted the efforts of Massingale, who finished with 34 points at 55 per cent shooting, whilst also having 11 rebounds in Knox’s come from behind victory.
It was a lethargic first quarter by the Raiders, with Mount Gambier’s Brandon Brown finishing off a big alley-oop to create some buzz for the travelling Pioneers.
With the score-line at 24-12 in Mount Gambier’s favour at quarter time, Knox were in desperate need of a spark after a flat first term.
This came from an unexpected source in 17-year-old Ben Waterhouse, nearly pulling off a miraculous lay-up that Massingale put back in for two points, followed by making a big three in the corner that got the Knox bench out of their seats, possibly the most vocal they’ve been this year.
Despite Knox’s rejuvenated second quarter, they still trailed by seven points at half-time, but 14 points by Massingale in the third quarter saw Knox hit the front late in the term, with the scores at 66-65 going into the final quarter.
With the lead continuing to change throughout the last quarter, the Raiders made their break away with three minutes remaining, with two points to Massingale followed by three points to Mick Hill generating an eight point lead.
When John Philip scored with two minutes remaining the lead extended to double figures, but six points in 40 seconds by the Pioneers brought them back into the contest with one minute remaining.
Lester Strong scored straight out of the Raiders time-out, helping cement the victory for Knox in their eight-point win.
Massingale’s 34 points and 11 rebounds was the standout performance for the Raiders, but Hill’s 20 points and six assists also helped the Raiders to their 13th win of the season.
Despite the win, Knox dropped to second spot in the South Conference, Nunawading taking top position after winning their two games in Tasmania on their road trip.
Both Knox and Nunawading are on eight losses, with Knox a game in hand only playing the one game over the weekend.