WESTON, Mass. – Regis College overcame a late second half deficit to rally for a 58-50 victory over Lesley University on Tuesday night in New England Collegiate Conference men's basketball action in Weston, Mass.
The Pride have now tied a program record with their eighth-straight win and improve to 17-7 overall and 12-3 in the NECC, clinching the No. 2 seed in the upcoming NECC Tournament. Lesley drops to 2-22 overall and 2-13 in league games.
In a pregame ceremony, the Pride honored their four seniors in Mike McCloskey (Winter Springs, Fla.), Jaren Scrubb (Stowe, Vt.), Ethan Peana (Staten Island, N.Y.), and Jeff Lang (Raymond, N.H.) for their contributions to Regis College and its athletic department. At halftime, the Pride welcomed back Ryan Chambers, the program's all-time leading scorer, for a banner ceremony to recognize his 1,311 career points scored.
Both teams got off to a slow start as the score was tied 5-5 with 14:20 to play. The teams entered into a back and forth scoring battle until a Hector Heredia (Lawrence, Mass.) layup gave Regis a 12-9 lead with 9:26 remaining in the first half. Lesley answered with back-to-back jumpers from Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Wash.) and Justin Rosa (East Brunswick, N.J.) to go on top 13-12 and Lesley grabbed their largest lead of the half at 19-16 following a layup from Matt Gianoni (Berlin, Conn.) with 5:33 to play.
Senior Jaren Scrubb knocked down a triple at the top of the key to knot it at 19-all and another three from Scrubb a minute later pushed Regis in front 22-21. Lesley took a lead at the 2:08 mark on another Toney jumper, but the Pride closed the half on a 5-0 spurt on a three-point play from Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) and a layup from Jaiwon Martin (Coral Springs, Fla.) to take a 29-25 advantage into the break.
Regis continued the run at the start of the second half, scoring the first six points of the period to take a 35-25 lead. Leak Jr. hit a pair of freethrows to stake the Pride to a 39-27 lead, but a 10-0 run by Lesley knifed the deficit to 39-37 with 10:54 remaining. Corbin Polec (Okemos, Mich.) and Casey Blanchard (Bernardston, Mass.) each hit triples, while Toney and Chris Barletta (Valrico, Fla.) knocked down jumpers as part of the run.
Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) ended the streak with a layup inside, but Blanchard hit another triple to put the visitors on top, 44-43. A Justin Rosa freethrow and a three-ball from the senior a minute later gave the Lynx their largest lead of the second half at 48-43 with 5:27 to play.
Chris Leak Jr. and Sam Jean-Gilles converted four-straight freethrows to cut it to a one point game and a jumper from Heredia at the top of the key gave Regis a slim 49-48 lead with 2:40 remaining. A tip-in from Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) followed by another jumper from Heredia with the shot clock expiring gave Regis a five point lead they would not relinquish. The Pride ended the game on a 15-2 run, with a Rosa layup in the closing seconds the lone basket for the Lynx, as the Pride grabbed a 58-50 victory.
Both teams struggled from the floor as the Pride could only muster 37.5% (21-of-56) shooting from the field, compared to 35.1% (20-of-57) shooting for Lesley. Regis won the rebounding battle, 42-35, but committed 10 turnovers to just eight for the visitors.
Chris Leak Jr. led the Pride with 13 points to go with six rebounds in the win. Sam Jean-Gilles added nine points and nine rebounds, while Jaren Scrubb, Ethan Peana, and Hector Heredia had eight points apiece. Jean-Gilles added a game-high nine rebounds, with Heredia leading the team with five assists. Mike McCloskey added five rebounds.
Lesley was led by 12 points Terrell Toney, with Justin Rosa, Corbin Polic, and Jacob DiDomenico (North Providence, R.I.) adding eight points apiece. Rosa led the Lynx with eight rebounds. Chris Barletta had an all-around game with six points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals, and two blocks.
The Pride wrap up the regular season on Thursday night on the road at Wheelock College in an 8:00 p.m. conference tilt. Lesley travels to Elms College on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. NECC matchup.