Ranked Matchup Turns Into Lights-out Shooting Day for the Jacks

The NJCAA DII #21 ranked Raritan Valley Community College Lions (NJ) came to Skipjack Arena to take on the NJCAA DII #22 ranked Chesapeake College Skipjacks. These two programs have a history of having great battles that come down to the last possession of the game. Coaches of both programs do a great job of having their programs prepared for battles of this caliber.

Coming into today's matchup, the Jacks being 11-2 and the Lions being 11-3, both teams are riding a three game win streak in hopes of extending those win streaks to continue to climb the national rankings.

Raritan Valley gets onto the scoreboard first as one of their players gets a great seal in the post and was able to convert on an easy layup after getting a good pass from a teammate. On the next possession, Chesapeake gets into a set and converts on an open corner three-pointer. Both teams would then go back-and-forth with scoring. At the 7:07 minute mark, the Lions cut the lead to three, 25-22, and that would be the closest the game would be for the remainder of the half. The Jacks would then go on an 18-8 run to close out the first half and give them a 43-30 lead.

Coming out of halftime down 13, the Lions cut the Skipjacks lead down to nine at the 16 minute mark and forced Chesapeake to call a timeout to stop the run. After the timeout, the Jacks would hit another gear and bumped the lead up to 20 over the next four minutes. Raritan would cut the lead to 15 but wasn't able to cut any closer. The Skipjacks would go on to win the game 91-67, extending their win streak to four and improving their record to 12-2.

Four players were able to contribute double digit scoring in the win. Xavier Buchanan led the way after scoring a career high, 23 points, 15 of those points coming from made three-pointers. La'Shaun Moody had a double-double in the win after scoring 19 points and having 10 assists. Elisha Johnson-Dixon also recorded a double-double in the win off the bench, contributing 13 points, 11 rebounds, and five rebounds. Kobe Ennals added 13.

Chesapeake will be back in to region play next Wednesday, January 14th as they travel to Montgomery College to take on the Raptors at 7:30 PM.