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Men's Basketball
at Pitt (Exhibition)
2:00 p.m.
Providence College Athletics
Saturday, October 31
Providence, RI
1:00 PM
Providence College
88
vs
95
Men's Basketball Falls to Team Fokus
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 31, 1998
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Providence College Friars opened the 1998-99 preseason with a high scoring 95-88 loss to Team Fokus, a team of former collegiate stars travelling the country.
The Friars fell behind late in the first half, trailed by as many as 16 in the second half, but used their pressing, swarming defense to put on a late rally, cutting the lead to six with just 27 seconds left only to see time run out on them in the season opening loss.
Jamel Thomas led all scorers in the game with 21 points and 10 rebounds and was one of six Friars in double figures on the afternoon. Sophomore Erron Maxey added 16, freshman Sean Connolly added 13, senior Kendrick Moore added 11 and sophomores Jamaal Camah and Ben Perkins added ten points off the bench.
Team Fokus had four players in double figures led by former Eastern Michigan star Fred Cofield who scored 15 in the game. Nevada-Reno's Marvin Wilson added 14, Illinois State's Dan Muller added 11 and Iowa State's Justice Thigpen added10. Former URI standout Tyson Wheeler had seven points and four assists in 23 minutes and ex-Ram Kyle Ivey-Jones had a pair of points in limited playing time.
The former college stars shot 66.7% from the floor (34-51) and hit 10 of 15 three point shots in the game. PC shot just 46.2% (36-78) with six, three-pointers. The Friars struggled at the foul line hitting just 10 of 22 shots (45.5%).
PC trailed 47-35 at the half in a game that went back-and-forth through the first ten minutes. A Justin Farley jumper at 12:30 of the first half gave the Friars their biggest lead at 20-16. After a Sean Connolly three-pointer cut the Team Fokus lead to 30-27 at 8:34 of the half, PC went cold as the collegiate stars went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes led by two Fred Cofield three-pointers.
Fokus led by as many as 16 points in the second half and appeared to be tiring late in the game. Up by 13 with 3:47 left in the game (88-75), PC's Moore hit a three-pointer and a long jumper, Thomas had a pair of free throws and a layup and Cole added a free throw to make it 91-85.
From there the veteran Team Fokus sealed the win making four of five foul shots and got a big three point play from Marvin Wilson with nine seconds left to seal the win.
PC returns to action on Tuesday, November 3rd when the Friars close out the quick preseason against another team of former collegiate stars, Marathon. Game time at the Providence Civic Center is 7:30 p.m. The Friars open the regular season on Monday, November 9th in the CoSIDA Classic. PC opens with Vanderbilt in the 9:00 p.m. game. Rhode Island plays Texas Christian University in the opener at 6:30 p.m.
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