Those who invented and perfected the game of basketball would have been proud if they were in attendance to watch Providence and the Armenian General Benevolent Union Saturday night in a Liberty League contest.
Both sides came out focused, played tough defense throughout in a tug-of-war style game. In the end Providence had a little too much in a 63-45 win.
Whether it was because of a zone defense, a man-to-man or a halfcourt trap, nobody got an easy basket. And that resulted in the two teams combining to hit 11 shots from 3-point range.
Allen Ashikian’s 3-pointer with 3:30 left in the first quarter gave AGBU (15-5 overall, 1-2 in league) a 9-6 lead. Ashikian led all scorers with 19 points.
But Providence (15-6 overall, 4-2 in league) countered with its own long-distance weapon in Bishop Thompkins.
Thompkins hit four 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 17 points.
After trailing 14-12 at the end of the first quarter, Providence came out in a half-court trap to start the second quarter at it caused AGBU to not hit a field goal in the second quarter until 2:50 before halftime when Garo Ohanessian hit a 3-pointer.
Providence had opened up a 25-16, but the Titans ended the half on an 8-0 run.
AGBU re-took the lead early in the third quarter on a 3-pointer from Ashikian.
Providence tied things on a basket by Riley Murphy and re-took the lead on a jumper by Madden Velasco with 5:33 left in the third quarter.
The Pioneers then went on a 12-2 run to push the lead to 41-29.
But AGBU would not go away. The Titans countered with a 5-0 run to cut the Providence lead back into single digits.
Providence took advantage of a golden opportunity with one second left in the third quarter when Murphy was fouled on a 3-point shooting attempt. He went to make all three free throws.
AGBU got as close as 44-38 in the fourth quarter. JeanPierre Birotte hit a huge 3-pointer with 5:03 to play to push the Providence lead back into double digits at 50-40. Birotte finished with 16 points.
The Pioneers received 10 points from each Murphy and Griffin Bersh. Velasco had six points. Providence also got two points each from Isiah Kim and Leo Eliasin.
