The Providence College men’s basketball team defeated the UMass Minutemen, 63-54, in a charity exhibition game on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. Redshirt-junior Corey Floyd Jr. (Franklin, N.J.) led the Friars’ offense with a game-high 19 points. “This game was great,” said Head Coach Kim English. “It served as a dress rehearsal for our regular season opener next Monday against Central Connecticut State. It’s a great opportunity for us to learn and improve.” FIRST HALF: •Wesley Cardet Jr. (Tallahassee, Fla.) opened the game scoring with an open three in the Friars’ first possession of the match. The Minutemen countered with a 4-0 run. • While UMass endured a scoring drought, the Friars found a six-point surge. At the first media timeout (11:36), the Friars led, 8-4. • The Minutemen endured a scoring drought lasting for over four minutes that was snapped at the 9:40 mark. • By the eight-minute mark, the Friars had taken a 17-8 lead with Anton Bonke (Port Vila, Vanuatu) leading the offense. • UMass put together a quick five-point surge to cut the deficit to four (17-13) with six minutes remaining. • The Minutemen tied the score at 18 with 5:50 remaining in the half but Oswin Erhunmwunse (Benin City, Nigeria) quickly reclaimed the lead for the Friars with a dunk off a lob from Bensley Joseph (Arlington, Mass.). • The two teams fought back and forth in the closing minutes of the half, exchanging the lead twice. By the final media timeout (3:04), the Friars held a tight 24-23 lead. • PC called a timeout with 10 seconds left. On the final play of the half, Corey Floyd Jr. (Franklin, N.J.) drained a three-pointer to give the Friars a 32-29 lead heading into halftime. • Floyd Jr. led the Friars’ first-half scoring effort with 12 points. SECOND HALF: • Floyd Jr. kicked off the Friars’ second-half scoring with a layup. • At the first media timeout (11:46) the Friars led, 40-39. • The two teams went back-and-forth over the course of five minutes. • The Friars intensified their defense in the second half, forcing four turnovers on the Minutemen in just over three minutes. During this stretch, the Minutemen went 0-for-5 from the field, 1-for-8 over their last eight attempts, and failed to score a field goal for over three minutes. At the under-12 timeout (7:23), the Friars held a 50-45 lead. • Exiting the media timeout, the Friars sparked a 9-0 scoring run over the next three minutes. • With 3:29 left on the clock, Floyd Jr. hit a three from the top of the key to extend the Friars’ lead to 59-47. The Minutemen’s scoring drought extended to over six minutes long. • Providence maintained the lead for the remainder of the match and finished on top 63-54. NOTES • The Friars entered the game 25-9 mark all time versus the Minutemen. • This charity game was approved by an NCAA waiver. On Aug. 1, 2024, the NCAA Committee for Legislative Relief approved a recommendation issued by the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee to permit an institution to conduct both of its two permissible exhibition games in the sport of basketball against a Division I institution for the purpose of raising funds for catastrophic events (as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency), social justice initiatives and/or general medical expenses (e.g., American Cancer Society, local health emergency). UP NEXT The Friars will open the 2024- 25 regular season versus Central Connecticut on Monday, November 4 at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on FS1. The Friars have posted a 7-2 mark all-time versus the Blue Devils. The last time the two teams met, the Friars earned a 68-53 win at the Amica Mutual Pavilion on December 11, 2021. Providence has posted a 7-1 mark all-time versus CCSU at the AMP. Categories: Sports