Middletown, N.Y.-- The RVCC men's basketball team topped Orange County Community College in the season opener Saturday by a final score of 82-77. The Lions fell behind early as Orange jumped out to a 12-4 lead after tipoff, however the Lions countered with a 14-2 run to take an 18-14 lead. The remainder of the first half was back and forth, and the Lions took a slim 32-29 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, the Lions came out hot with an 18-5 run to push the lead to 50-34. They took control of the second half and were able to hold off a tough Orange run in the final seven minutes of the game to win 82-77.
Leading the scoring for the Lions was sophomore guard Zaire Robinson with 19 points, and freshman guard Kenyan Goodson who also finished with 19. Freshman guard Kevin Saylor scored 18 points, and converted 14 of his 19 attempts from the line. Freshman forward Ronald Washington added 11 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore forward Sam Pierre played tough defense finishing with eight rebounds and three blocks. Robinson corralled nine rebounds and went 13-18 from the line.
The Lions played aggressive offense as they got to the line often and converted 39 out of 58 attempts. From the field, they went 20-44 for an efficient 45 percent.
Next up for RVCC is a home game on Saturday, November 12th against Montgomery County Community College at 2pm.