East Providence sends St. Ray's to first Division I boys' hoops loss

Townies rebound from having just had their own long win streak ended

EastBayRI.com ·

EAST PROVIDENCE — Having just had its own recent winning streak snapped earlier in the week, the East Providence High School boys’ basketball team did so in kind Friday night, Jan. 27, to St. Raphael, handing the previously unbeaten Saints their first loss in 12 Division I games by the score of 59-52 before a raucous packed house at Ramos Gymnasium.

The victory was the eighth in nine games for the Townies, who improved to 8-3 in the league standings and rebounded from a 66-62 loss on the road Wednesday night, Jan. 25, to Smithfield. The Saints dropped to 11-1, but remain atop the D-I ranks.

"It was a well played game. Both sides played well. We played our butts off tonight. We were prepared. I thought Smithfield, we were disappointed we lost that game. The kids played well, but they wanted to get back. I told them we gotta get one. We just dropped one, so we gotta get one. So let's get it Friday, and we did. This was a huge win for us," said EPHS head coach Joe Andrade.

Deyshawn Tengbeh led all scorers with 25 points for East Providence, 20 in the second half alone as he fronted the Townies’ rally from a 29-22 deficit at intermission. The junior guard netted the first six points for the locals in the final 16 minutes. And just past the midpoint of the second, he drained a deep 3-pointer from the corner to put the Townies back out in front for good (39-37).

Sophomore point guard Dion Hazard added 14 points. He single-handedly got East Providence going to start the game, scoring the Townies’ first seven points of the night.

Saints’ senior Trevante Jones, likewise, was the catalyst for the visitors in the opening 16 minutes. He scored the initial eight points for St. Ray’s, eventually finishing with 14 in the first half. The Townies, however, contained the burly forward in the second half, holding him to just five more and a total of 19.

Peter Wilson, the Saints’ other senior standout, had a relatively quiet 18 points. The Townies also held Willie Washington to nine points, several below his season average.

A Jones put-back with 7:30 to go in the first half started a 9-0 Saints’ run, helping spur the visitors to a 20-12 lead. The margin later grew to a game-high 13 (27-14) when Washington drained a 3 from the wing. A couple of And-1s by Hazard and Tengbeh down the stretch helped the locals close to within seven at the break.

"He's physical. He gets down there, gets rebounds, gets layups. We had a problem containing him, but we also weren't making shots," Andrade said of the Saints' Jones.

"We were down seven at halftime, but then we started making shots and they had a little bit of a problem with our 3-2 zone, I think, in the second half," Andrade added.

To start the second, East Providence picked up its defensive intensity for sure while St. Ray’s showed a surprising lack of composure and appreciation for the ball. The Saints committed numerous careless turnovers, which allowed the Townies to claw back into the game then eventually take the lead on Tengbeh’s triple.

"It was important. We were down. I just wanted to pick my team up," Tengbeh said of his early second-half surge. "So I worked and got the buckets I needed to help pick the team up."

Tengbeh later finished a pretty scoop from the baseline then brought the crowd to its feet with a two-hand slam off a break-away steal with just over two minutes to play.

"Deyshawn played great. He was outstanding. The whole team was," Andrade said. "We're a young team. You're seeing us progress as time goes on. We're like that St. Ray's team. They were all juniors last year, and they were competitive. And we're competitive. I'm happy with what we're doing, the direction we're going."

Tengbeh also dished a nifty kick-out assist to mate Kyerstan Casey for a clutch 3 from the side with 1:25 remaining that gave the locals a 52-47 lead at the time. Tengbeh and Hazard would seal the victory at the free throw line, each making a pair at the stripe in the final minute.

"This was an important win for us. We wanted it. We've been waiting for this game all season," Tengbeh added. "And we got it. We pulled it out at the end."