Too often, highly anticipated matchups between powerhouse rivals fizzles out and don't live up to the expectations. That can not be said about the matchup between the Coolidge Colts and the Roosevelt Rough Riders at Roosevelt's newly refurbished gymnasium last night (1/10/2008).

The Riders and the Colts took turns dazzling the crowd with long range three-point bombs that barely tickled the nets, driving lay-ups through the crowded lane, and thunderous dunks that brought the capacity crowd to their feet. This felt like a play-off game that is usually played in March and not a regular season game played in early January. The Colts came out of the starting blocks on fire and took a 12-3 advantage before the Riders awoke from their slumber.

The Riders, who seemed a bit nervous at the beginning, got back into the game by calling on their accurate 3-point shooters. Guards Marquis Tyler (14 pts.), Dalec Cromwell (22 pts.), and Delaunte Lewis (9 pts.) were deadly from the three-point line and their accurate shooting brought the Riders back and helped to get the capacity crowd into the game.

This was a game of runs with the Colts bolting out to a lead and the Riders fighting to get back in it. Coolidge took a five point lead (34-29) into the half and started the second half on another run. The Riders clawed their way back and the third quarter ended with Coolidge only leading by three points (44-41). It seemed that both teams knew exactly what the other wanted to do. Part of that was because these teams had classic battles during the summer league season and Coolidge's head coach (Vaughn Jones) use to be Roosevelt's coach Rob Nicken's assistant coach when they were coaching at MM Washington.

The game stayed close until the last two minutes of the fourth quarter when Coolidge forward Johnathan Raiford and guard Derrick Washington hit three pointers that seemed to take all of the air out of the Riders. Though those three pointers sealed the victory for the Colts it was the inside play of their big men, especially Andre Mattison (22 pts.) that turned the tide in favor of the Colts. "I was real disappointed in the play of our big men down low," Roosevelt's head coach Rob Nickens said. "We are going to work hard so that never happens again."