Projo College Hoops

By KEVIN McNAMARA

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - As usual they made things very, very interesting but the Providence Friars have taken care of business and beaten Rutgers today, 73-66.

The Friars led by seven points and built a 19-point second half lead but Rutgers stormed back to cut the lead to just three points with three minutes left. But the Friars answered, with Jeff Xavier draining a huge 3-pointer that began a 9-2 run that broke the game open once again.

Weyinme Efejuku led all scorers with 28 points. PC improves to 18-11 overall and 10-7 in the Big East with only a game at Villanova left in the regular season.

The Friars hoped for a blazing start to the game and while they maintained control through the opening 20 minutes, they never found a strong offensive rhythm. PC jumped out to a 14-8 lead as Rutgers was truly awful out of the gate but the home team eventually settled down and made a few shots. A 6-0 run with about six minutes left actually gave RU a 20-18 lead but an Efejuku jam began an 11-2 run that included a deep Curry 3-pointer, a driving layup by McDermott and a nice, coast-to-coast driving scoop by Curry.

PC led at the break, 33-26, with Rutgers shooting just 34 percent from the floor.
That rate only got worse through the first 10 minutes of the second half and that helped the Friars race to what appeared to be a commanding 19-point lead (62-43).

PC not only stopped the Scarlet Knights on defense but also got out and ran the floor on offense and that led to numerous easy chances. Efejuku was the game's dominant player as he continually got to the rim with power drives and he also hit a 3-pointer. A 9-0 Friar run pushed the lead to 62-43 with Brian McKenzie catching a Curry pass and dunking.

But, from seemingly out of nowhere, Rutgers awoke. The Scarlet Knights began digging in on defense and PC turned the ball over every which way to help fuel a 16-0 run that sliced PC's lead down to 62-59 with three minutes to play.

Needing a big shot, Jeff Xavier provided one as he nailed a deep wing 3-pointer to push the lead back up to 65-59.

 Tags  PC basketball Weyinmi Efejuku

Comments

PETER said:

great game from curry and weyinimi what more can you ask for from these tw0 guys this game great job.gooooo friars

Link | March 1, 2009 5:40 PM
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