Newport Dragons Defeat Chicago Grizzlies in Front of Rowdy Home Crowd

On May 3rd the Newport Dragons took on the Chicago Grizzlies at home at St. Georges School in Newport, RI.

The Dragons packed the house for this regular season clash between the two North Division team- with every seat filled, last minute ticket holders were forced to use standing room. The Grizzlies (#4) were one spot above the Dragons (#5) in both the Jackson Bragman & Sean Choi pre-season power rankings; however, it became clear from the get go that the Dragons were committed to flipping the rankings on their head.

Period 1 began with Dragon’s star Ramit Tandon taking on the Grizzlies’ Andrew Douglas, both of whom were first round draft picks for their teams. Tandon was able to edge out a 13-9 lead before the first substitution, which saw Spencer Lovejoy tap in for the Dragons and Todd Harrity for the Grizzlies. Harrity showed his experience during this shift, pulling ahead in the scoreline. Despite signs of a comeback, Grizzlies 3rd player, Mark Broekman, held off Sanjay Jeeva in the final moments to finish off the period 20 – 17 and put the Grizzlies up 1 – 0.

In the second period, Newport stuck to their strategy of starting out guns blazing by sending out Tandon, their #1 player. The Grizzlies elected to play Broekman to start the second, creating a mismatch for Newport to take advantage of. Tandon rocketed off to an 8-0 lead, playing some outrageous winners after grueling rallies that pumped even more energy into the already raucous crowd and sucked the energy out of the deflated Broekman. The tides were turning in this second period and everyone could feel it. After a long and successful shift from Tandon, he had built a comfortable lead that Lovejoy and Jeeva were able to hang on to for the rest of the period, the Dragons winning it 28 – 21.

With the score tied at 1 – 1, it all came down to the final period (worth 2 points). Momentum was in the Dragon’s favor, but Chicago was anything but defeated. Both teams opted again to start with their #1s, with Tandon taking on Douglas. The scoreline was neck-and-neck throughout the shift, with Douglas hanging in, but looking slightly fatigued towards the end. The first sub saw Lovejoy replace Tandon, but Douglas remain on court. It was clear that the work Tandon had put into the legs of Douglas paid dividends, as Lovejoy was able to start to build a small lead. The real turning point of the match happened next, as Harrity replaced Douglas but ran into the Lovejoy buzzsaw, with the American catching fire and rattling off countless winners to ultimately leave the court with a 10 point lead. After this shift, it was all about lead preservation, and Newport’s Sanjay Jeeva did just that in crunch time. With 5 minutes remaining, #1 Tandon came back on to put the icing on the cake. There was a slight scare for the home team as time expired when Tandon’s calf began to cramp, but luckily the Dragons had built enough of a lead to stay in control and win the period 43 – 38 and the overall match 3 – 1.

This victory puts the Dragons at 1 – 0 and at the top of the North Division table. They will travel to NYC on June 8th to take on the Knights. The Grizzlies will take on the Knights at home in Chicago on May 18th to avoid elimination.