NARRAGANSETT — The East Providence High School boys’ basketball earned its second win in three Division I regular season games to date after the Townies defeated Narragansett by a convincing 78-49 tally on the road Monday night, Dec. 19.

East Providence improved to 2-1 on the young 2022-23 league campaign. The host Mariners dipped to 0-3. Narragansett, like the Townies, lost to LaSalle (57-20) and also fell to East Greenwich (63-50).

The locals were coming off 60-48 win over E.G. late the prior week. E.P. dropped a 57-56 decision to rival Rams in their D-I opener on December 13. The aforementioned four sides make up the Division I-B subgroup in the state's 16-team top tier.

“We didn’t come out ready to roll. Once we got composed we played a lot better,” said EPHS head coach Joe Andrade. “We threw nine guys at them all game and I think we just wore them down.”

Both teams were without key contributors. For East Providence both Will Winfield and Christian Torres for the second game in a row due to illness/injury. Andrade said ‘Gansett’s two top players have yet to suit up this season for the same reasons.

The Townies took command of Monday’s contest during a 12-minute stretch from the middle of the second period out of intermission and through the third quarter.

Narragansett last trailed by three (21-18) with exactly four minutes left in the second stanza. Max Collins started East Providence’s decisive run with a free throw, then drained a 3-pointer from the corner. The Townies closed the first half on a 12-3 run to take a 34-21 lead into the locker room.

EPHS built upon its edge early in the second as Collins and Xavier Hazard each drained a pair of 3s as the Townies eventually outscored the Mariners 26-17 in the third. Hazard had 10 of his game-best 26 in the quarter. Collins netted eight of his 12 in the eight-minute span.

“It was defense and rebounding, defense and rebounding,” Andrade said of the game-deciding stretch. “It also helps when Max is making shots and X is hot. It opens things up for the rest of the guys.

East Providence only added to its by then overwhelming advantage in the final period. Kenaz Ochogwu’s driving layup with 30 seconds left accounted for the final points of the evening for the locals and upped the Townies’ edge to the night-high 78-48.

Trey Rezendes, part of the Townies’ usual starting backcourt with Collins, was slowed by a flu bug within the team. The junior came off the bench to score eight. Kemerie Dublin chipped in seven while Ochogwu and Jayveeon Gonsalves each finished with six.

“I thought we played well considering Trey wasn’t at 100 percent and were without Winfield and Torres,” Andrade added. “We finished these first few games 2-1 in our little division (I-D subgroup). I’m happy with that.”

The Townies return to action with their first crossover game of the league season when travel to Cumberland to face the host Clippers Thursday night, Dec. 22, at 7 o'clock.