By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, NY — Arnold Fripp, Jr. (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Collegiate) and Greg Williams (Cincinnati, OH/Princeton) led a second-half-surge as the Monroe Community College Tribunes defeated the Jamestown-Olean Jaguars, 103-84 in WNYAC action on George Monagan Court, Thursday night.
Fripp, Jr. provided the spark in a decisive run as the Tribunes outscored the Jaguars by 10 early in the second half. The sophomore started the half with a pretty upfake at the free throw line and drive for a bucket. His rebound and putback stretched the lead to six at 51-45.
“He’s playing really well,” noted Monroe head coach, Jerry Burns. “He’s doing a lot of good things for us. He finishes. He gives us an inside factor that we need.”
Fripp, Jr.’s turnaround jumper in the lane pushed the lead to double digits at 64-54.
“The first half we were sluggish, but the second half we picked up our intensity,” Fripp, Jr. commented. “I’m not really a five, but whatever my team needs me to do, I do it.”
Williams took charge from there burying three threes and finishing a drive in the lane. Fripp, Jr. found Williams in the left corner for a catch-and-shoot three. Edward Hector (Atlanta, GA./Creekside) led Williams for another trey. Williams hit a pull-up trifecta for a 77-63 bulge, and the the Tribs never looked back.
“First half I was thinking too much,” Williams explained. “Second half I just came out and my teammate told me to shoot, so I did.”
The Tribunes created 10 turnovers and outscored the Jaguars by nineteen in the second stanza, 62-43 shooting 52.2 percent (24-of-46) from the floor after the break.
Jahvari Josiah (Brooklyn, NY/Beach Channel) and Ta-Quan Zimmerman (Waterbury, CT./Waterbury) helped the Tribunes erase a 13-point deficit late in the first half to tie the game at the break. Zimmerman took a diagonal pass in transition from Tashwan Desir (Brooklyn, NY/NiaPrep) for a layup. On the next possession, Fripp, Jr. found Zimmerman open under the basket with a high-low pass.
Josiah finished a rebound and putback on the break. Desir and Josiah connected on the next trip when Josiah got loose along the baseline for a lob and a bucket. By the time, Josiah drove the baseline and scored two possessions later, the game was tied at 38.
Desir connected on a catch-and-shoot three for the 41-41 score at half.
The Tribs sprinted to an early 11-0 lead.
Reuben Berry (Bronx, NY/Danbury) used a spin move in the post for a deuce. Desir scored on the break. Zimmerman got the assist. Berry sliced through the lane for another two. Full court pressure created a turnover and Josiah corralled an offensive rebound and scored. Zimmerman capped the early run with a catch-and-shoot three from Desir.
Jamestown-Olean rallied.
Katrell Henry, Jr. (College Park, MD/Do BoscoCristo Rey) scored 14 straight Jaguar points with a pair of threes and and two layups to close the gap at 16-10.
Jamere Wilcox (Philadelphia, PA/Hope Charter) kept it going from there with drive from the top, a pull-up three, one-of- two free throws, a baseline drive and another charity toss to close within one at 21-20.
Stephane Vilson (College Park, MD./Don Bosco Cristo Rey) gave the Jaguars their first lead of the night at 25-23 with a traditional three-point play.
Jamestown-Olean rattled off 11 straight from that point with Wilcox grabbing a loose ball and scoring for a 36-23 advantage.
“We probably subbed a little too much in the beginning,” Burns noted. “I probably should have stayed with that first group a little longer. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.”
Fripp, Jr. and Williams led the Black and Gold with 16 each. Fripp, Jr. was seven-of-13 from the floor.
Josiah and Zimmerman chipped in 13 apiece. Josiah and Kenny Johnson (Philadelphia, PA./Abington Friends) paced the Black and Gold with seven rebounds.
Monroe had 21 assists on 40 field goals. Desir led with a game-high five assists. Johnson and Josiah added four dimes each.
Monroe outrebounded Jamestown-Olean 55-45.
Wilcox notched a double for the Jaguars with 29 points and 13 rebounds.
Vilson added 20, and Henry, Jr. chipped in with 15 for Jamestown-Olean.
With the win, MCC improves to 14-1 on the season. The Tribs travel to SUNY-Delhi for 3 p.m. tip, Saturday. Monroe is ranked second in the Division II national polls.
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