By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMIAN basketball prospects have teamed up at the junior college level across the United States and have experienced early season success with their respective programmes.
The group of teammates include Bradley Lightbourne and Joshua Dames with the Kansas Community College Blue Devils, Deyton Albury and Paul Greene with Chipola College, Rolantae Knowles and Oswald Meadows with Butte Community College and the Bahamian contingent at Northeast Community College, Emmanuel Alexandre, Saheed Sanusi, Bryan Rolle, Colin Storr, Jaden Strachan and Charles Joseph.
The Blue Devils have struggled at 1-3 thus far, but Lightbourne and Dames have each averaged double figures in scoring.
In the season opener, Lightbourne finished with 19 points and four steals, Dames added 19 points and eight rebounds in an 86-77 loss to the no.9 ranked Des Moines Area.
KCKCC split a pair with Iowa Western CC. In game one, Lightbourne posted his first double double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Dames scored 11 with four steals. In game two, Dames made four threes en route to a game high 19 points while Lightbourne added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Lightbourne also scored 16 in an 80-73 loss to Butler.
Last season, both players received conference wide recognition for standout freshman seasons.
Lightbourne was named to the All-Second Team and Dames to the All-Third Team respectively.
Lightbourne averaged 12 points and five rebounds per game on the season. He shot 46 percent from the field.
Dames earned Third Team honours after he averaged 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 41.3 percent from the field. The Blue Devils went 21-10 overall on the season, and advanced to the Region VI Tournament Semifinals.
Albury is in his second season with Chipola while Greene has had an immediate impact in his debut season thus far.
Albury was a role player for Chipola last year as a freshman, but began his sophomore campaign with a strong start. He posted a collegiate career high with 22 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and two steals for Chipola in their season opening 84-75 win over the Coastal Alabama North Eagles.
Greene had four points, six rebounds and three assists in his debut.
In game two, Greene nearly posted a double double with nine points and eight rebounds.
Albury had eight points, five rebounds and four assists in Chipola’s Southwest Mississippi Community College.
In a 76-66 win over Polk, Albury finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while Greene scored 13 and grabbed seven rebounds.
As a freshman, Albury averaged 4.4 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in 33 appearances.
This season he is averaging 15.7 points and a team-leading 8.3 rebounds per game. Greene is averaging 8.7 points and is second on the team with seven rebounds per game.
Chipola advanced to the national tournament with a 73-64 win over Indian River State College Saturday night to win the FCSAA State Title. Chipola has captured the State Championship and advanced to the NJCAA Final Four in the last two seasons.
Knowles and Meadows are in their sophomore season with Butte CC and the team has a 1-2 record thus far.
Knowles is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points and is leading the team with 8.3 rebounds per game while Meadows is averaging 8.7 points per game.
Knowles opened the season with back-to-back double doubles. He finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Columbia, followed by 10 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Cosumnes River. He recently added 10 points in a win over Simpson JV. Meadows had his best game of the season with 17 points against Cosumnes River.
In their freshman seasons, Knowles averaged 13.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while Meadows averaged 6.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Butte finished 15-12 on the season.
Alexandre has emerged as an early star among the Bahamian contingent at Northeast CC, averaging 22.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
The Hawks opened the season with a tough 78-77 loss to Southeast CC. Alexandre finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals, Strachan finished with five points and six rebounds while Rolle also grabbed six rebounds off the bench in his collegiate debut.
In game two, the Hawks got their first win of the season, 81-75 over the Central CC-Columbus.
Alexandre led the Hawks with a career high 26 points on 3-5 shooting from three-point range and nine rebounds. Storr had a double double with 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds and Strachan scored six off the bench.
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