CJ Massingale has been recognised for his phenomenal 45 point @ 50% performance against last year’s runners-up Frankston Blues on Saturday evening at Knox Converse Stadium. Massingale led the Knox Ford Raiders to their first victory of the season and was just as influential on the defensive end.

Given the task of guarding last year’s South Conference All-Star five member, Andrew Harms, Massingale shut the talented guard out of the game. Harms didn’t score for the match and was forced into five turnovers in an ugly night for the Blues who had no match for the Raiders and Massingale’s offensive onslaught.

Entering Saturday’s Grand Final replay from season 2009, the Raiders were staring down the barrel of a 0-3 record if they were to drop to Frankston but it was an entirely different Raiders team from the team that showed up in the first two rounds. Led by Massingale, the Raiders jumped out to a whopping 38-15 point lead by quarter time. Massingale scored a phenomenal 24 first quarter points which sparked the Raiders and the Blues would never threaten for the remainder of the game.

Massingale’s night was not finished however, the reigning East Conference scoring champion poured in another nine points in the second quarter, leaving his tally at 33 by the main break.

The second half was still all one way traffic as the Raiders continued to stifle the Blues on defense and remained a juggernaut on the offensive end.

Massingale added a further 12 points in the second half to finish with a league season high of 45 points including 7 from 14 from beyond the three-point arc. In addition, the sixth year Raider import added 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.

Whilst head coach Graham Longstaff was thrilled with the scoring punch Massingale gave to his team, it was the defensive effort that he was more pleased about.

“I thought CJ’s defence was absolutely fantastic. To keep a guy of the class of Andrew Harms to zero points is a real credit to CJ and the effort he put in on the defensive end. We all know about his scoring, that’s what we bring him out here for. The guy is a class act,” said Longstaff.

Massingale now leads the league in scoring, averaging 26.7 points per contest along with 7.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
Massingale spoke about his night out and the importance of the Raiders securing the victory over the Blues.

“We needed to get that win after two pretty disappointing home losses to open up the season. It’s always rewarding getting a player of the week but more importantly I’m pleased we got a win before the Easter break. We didn’t want to be in a 0-3 hole heading to Dandenong on the 8th of April.

“We’ll take this weekend off and be ready for two tough games in a 48 hour span the week after, starting at Dandenong on Thursday and then back home for Bendigo on Saturday,” said Massingale.

‘Raider Nation’ fans are urged to get along to Dandenong Basketball Stadium and support the Raiders men (8pm) and women (6pm) on Thursday 8th April as part of a school holidays double-header. The Raiders will then be back at Knox Converse Stadium on Saturday 10th April for a double-header with Bendigo. Women tip-off at 6pm and men at 8pm