Philly Raiders traveled to Fredericksburg on Saturday to face the Grizzlies in another East Coast Basketball League matchup. It was the second weekend in-a-row on the road for Philly who lost at Red Rose Thunder 106-99 on March 20. This game would follow a similar script with the Raiders playing from behind for much of three quarters before falling short in the end 111-107.
Another slow start this game had Philly trailing the Grizzlies 33-15 after one quarter, 64-46 at the halftime break.
The Raiders struggled early after the break as well, trailing by 21 with 8:53 to play in the third before beginning the charge back. Some hot shooting from Daquan Jones, who connected on seven of 15 three-pointers in the game, helped the cause.
With 5:37 to play in the final frame Devon Walker hit a pair of free throws to tie the game 93-93. After forcing a turnover Jones connected on another three giving the Raiders their first lead of the game. Fredericksburg would battle back though scoring the next four points to lead 97-96 with 2:29 on the clock.
Daquan Jones quickly responded with yet another three to make it 99-97. From their the teams went back-and-forth exchanging the lead before the final minute when the Grizzlies dug deep on their home floor to secure the win.
Shaq Shannon led the Raiders with 24 points while pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing out five assists. Jones ended up with 22 points – all but one free throw scored behind the arc – with five rebounds. Richard Collins (14 points, four rebounds) and Devon Walkers (13 points, 10 rebounds) also were contributors to the Raiders balanced attack.
Next up for the Philly Raiders (1-2) is a return home to Germantown Academy gym for the rematch against the Red Rose Thunder (4-1). Game time on Saturday is scheduled for 5:30 PM.
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