WESTON, Mass. – Westfield State University rattled off a 12-2 run in the final three minutes of regulation to rally past Regis College, 73-70, on Tuesday night in non-conference men's basketball action. The Owls move to 6-5 on the year, while the Pride falls to the same record (6-5).
Westfield State jumped out to an early 11-2 lead following a jumper from Grant Cooper (Northampton, Mass.), but a Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) jumper followed by a deep three from Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) sparked a quick 5-0 spurt from the Pride to get the score back to 11-7. The two teams traded scores until back-to-back triples from Keaton and Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) made it a 14-13 game with 13:58 to play.
Andre King (Springfield, Mass.) answered with a three of his own for the Owls, and a pair of Grant freebies a minute later kept it a 19-15 advantage for the visitors. Jean-Gilles scored inside to make it a two point game, and with just under 12 minutes to play, Keaton gave the Pride their first lead of the game with his third triple of the half to make it 21-20. King again responded for the visitors to take back the lead with a three, and Phillip Diphillipo (Orange, Mass.) knocked down a freethrow line jumper to push the Westfield State lead back to 24-21.
Jeff Tagger Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) scored on a three-point play to knot the game at 24-all and Ethan Peana (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored down low on the next possession to put Regis on top, 26-24. Jose Allen (Amherst, Mass.) tied the game for the Owls with a jumper, but three-straight perfect trips to the charity stripe for the Pride gave Regis their largest lead of the half at 32-26 with 4:54 to play.
WSU began to chip away and tied the game at 37-37 with 1:12 remaining via an 11-5 run. Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) ended the streak when he rattled home a jumper with under a minute to play to give the Pride a short-lived lead. After a stop for the Pride, Regis could not convert on a pair of second chance opportunities in the closing seconds of the half, and Jesus Sanchez (Springfield, Mass.) forced a steal, pushing the ball ahead to Dan Johnson (Belchertown, Mass.) for a deep three as time expired, giving the Owls a 40-39 halftime lead.
Westfield opened the second stanza with seven-straight turnovers, allowing Regis to build a 46-40 lead on a pair of Monts freethrows and a personal 7-0 run from Peana. Tchuijo Nkamebo (Amherst, Mass.) ended the drought with an emphatic put back dunk and he kept the Owls in the game with four-straight buckets to make it a 50-48 ballgame with 13:35 to play.
Jean-Gilles scored four points of his own to put the Pride back on top by six, but a Nathan Powers (Chicopee, Mass.) jumper followed by a three-point-play from Jose Allen cut the deficit to only 54-53 with nine minutes to play. The teams traded baskets, until a corner three from Jordan Monts followed by a triple from Ethan Peana at the top of the key forced a Westfield State timeout with the Owls trailing 64-55.
Both teams continued to score at will on each other and a Sam Jean-Gilles layup put Regis on top 68-61 with 3:04 remaining in regulation. A 6-0 run from the Owls made it a one point game at 68-67 as Jesus Sanchez converted on the fastbreak. Following a jumpball, Regis was awarded possession, but could not get the ball inbounds as Nkamebo tipped the ball away to Grant Cooper, who absorbed a foul and knocked down a layup to give Westfield State a 69-68 lead. Cooper would add the freethrow to make it a two point game.
On the ensuing Pride possession, Regis earned a trip to the charity stripe with a chance to tie the game, but came up empty, and the Pride were forced to foul. Andre King made 1-of-2 freebies to push the lead to 71-68, and Regis missed a three on its next possession, with Nkamebo grabbing the rebound and being fouled. He knocked down 1-of-2 to make it a two possession game, which proved pivotal as Jean-Gilles scored on the other end to make it a 72-70 contest. Andre King would add one more freethrow for the visitors and the Pride's final half court heave was offline, giving the Owls a hard-fought 73-70 win.
Regis won the rebound battle 35-30 with both teams committing 13 turnovers apiece. Both teams shot well from the floor with Westfield State shooting 51% (26-of-51) compared to 44.6% (25-of-56) shooting for the home team.
Sam Jean-Gilles netted a season-high 21 points to go with a game-high seven rebounds to lead Regis. Ethan Peana and Jordan Monts added 13 points apiece, while Chris Keaton knocked down three triples en route to 11 points. Hector Heredia finished the night with a game-high eight assists. Jeff Tagger Jr. had an all-around game with seven points, four rebounds, four assists, a block, and three steals.
Andre King's 16 points led four Westfield State players in double-figures. Grant Cooper added 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Jesus Sanchez and Tchuijo Nkamebo combined for 21 points off the bench for WSU. Sanchez added three steals, while Nkamebo had four rebounds.
The Crimson and Gold try and bounce back on Saturday afternoon when they host Newbury College in a New England Collegiate Conference matchup at 3:00 p.m. Westfield State opens its MASCAC schedule on Thursday night with an 8:00 p.m. game at Framingham State University.