Quincy Sun // Published January 24, 2019 // By Quincy Sun Staff

Quincy College Granite men’s basketball team returned to the court last week and opened up the second half of their 2018-2019 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) season with 2 impressive victories and strong team cohesion with veteran and new players joining the squad.

On Thursday January 17th, Quincy College Granite (8-10) faced Northern Essex Community College (7-10) and came out strong behind #4 Team Captain Jon DaVeiga of Boston posted 20 points for an impressive 89 -78 victory. Making his Granite Basketball debut was 6’7”, center #31 Fred Smith from Dorchester with 19 points, 18 rebounds, 4 steals, and 6 blocks. Coach Doug Scott was thrilled with Smith’s performance and feels he will be a great addition to the Quincy College Granite roster for the second half of the season. Also contributing for the Granite were #10 Darrius Hyppolite of Bridgewater with 16 points and #13 Trahe Qualls of Dorchester with 15 points.

For the second half of the 2018-2019 season, Quincy College Granite have added some local South Shore basketball talent in players #32 Remy Chebbo and #25 Christian Falco, graduates of Quincy High School and #12 Dan Keenan who joins fellow wildcat alums #23 Cam Mason and #22 David Canavan from Weymouth High School.

On Saturday, January 19th, Quincy College Granite hosted Quinsigamond Community College. A very close and contested game up to the very last minute of player, #4 Quincy College Granite Team Captain Jon DaVeiga stole the ball with 2 seconds left and scored to give Quincy an exciting 69 – 67 victory. #10 Darrius Hyppolite had an outstanding day leading all scorers with 35 points.

Granite Newcomer #31 Fred Smith of Dorchester added 10 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks, as he quickly becomes a defensive force for Quincy College Granite.

Quincy College Granite Head Coach Douglas Scott reflect on Granite’s efforts: “I’m happy with the start of the second half of QC Granite’s season, especially with the defensive efforts of veteran and new players. This is an area that we must improve as Quincy College Granite marches toward the Region 21 Playoff.”

Quincy College Granite hopes to maintain their momentum travelling to Gateway Community College (10-7) on Tuesday, January 22nd before returning home to face Ben Franklin Technical Institute (7-12) on Thursday January 24th and University of Connecticut at Avery Point (6-12) on Saturday January 26th at Eastern Nazarene College.

Quincy College Granite home games are free and open to the public. View the full schedule of Quincy College Granite games including home games played at Eastern Nazarene College’s Lahue Gym: quincycollege.edu/granite.