WESTON, Mass. – Led by 14 points off the bench from sophomore forward Jawaun Lewis (Jacksonville, Fla.), the Regis College men's basketball team earned a 66-52 win over New England Collegiate Conference opponent Newbury College Saturday afternoon on Higgins Court. The victory moves the Pride to 9-13, 6-7 NECC and the loss drops the Nighthawks to 2-19, 1-11 NECC.
Regis jumped up two spots, from the sixth seed to the fourth seed in the conference standings. Daniel Webster and Mitchell, who look up at the Pride in the fifth and sixth position, have played one less conference game.
Lewis chalked up 10 of his 14 markers and was 5-of-8 (62.5%) from the court during the second stanza. Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) was a monster on the boards for the Crimson and Gold as he snagged a career-best 12 caroms. Jeff Tagger Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) scored 12 points, came down with five boards, handed out two assists and made a steal.
Jeduan Langston (Boston, Mass.) led all scorers with 23 points. The sophomore guard also racked up 10 rebounds en route to his fifth double-double of the season. Kyle Joseph (Roxbury, Mass.) chipped in 13 points and seven boards.
Both squads struggled to make their shots during the early portion of the contest. A layup from underneath by Joseph gave the guests an 8-3 lead with 14:41 left in the half.
The Crimson and Gold responded with a 20-5 scoring outburst to take a 10 point, 23-13 lead with 4:49 to go. Freshman guard Isaiah Wilson (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) began the run with a layup in the post assisted by Hector Heredia (Lawrence, Mass.). Monts, Lewis and Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) each added to the run before Tagger Jr. rose up a buried a three ball from the corner to give the Pride a 18-13 lead. Langston ended the Regis run when he made two freebies at the 4:06 mark.
The Pride closed the half with a Heredia layup, a Monts three pointer and a Jaiwon Martin (Coral Springs, Fla.) free throw to go up 14, before Christian Sheridan (Chicago, Ill) split a pair of freebies for the Nighthawks as they headed into the intermission down 13, 29-16
As a team, Newbury shot 16.7% (5-of-30) from the field during the first half while Regis converted 35.3% (12-of-34) of their attempts.
Regis began the second half by scoring seven straight points. Sam Jean-Gilles made a layup from the block, Jeff Tagger Jr. knocked down a shot from downtown and Hector Heredia drove the lane and put up a floater off a pass from Tagger Jr. The Regis run forced an early Newbury timeout and put the hosts up 20, 36-16.
Senior sharpshooter Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) hit a three from the top of the key to give the Pride their largest lead, 47-23 with 12:44 to go. Newbury answered with a 18-5 run as Kyle Joseph knocked down three long balls and Jeduan Langston made a three coming off a screen to cut the deficit to 11, 52-41 with 8:19 left.
Jawaun Lewis added six straight points off one handed shots in the lane and Tagger Jr. drove the baseline twice, for four consecutive points during a 10-2 Regis run which iced the game and put the Pride up 19, 62-43 with 4:52 left.
Regis outplayed Newbury in the paint as they outscored the visitors 40-26 in the low post. The Pride also added 22 points off turnovers and the Regis reserves outscored the Nighthawks bench 28-6.
Hector Heredia scored 10 points and added five boards. Christian Sheridan scored eight points while securing four caroms.
Newbury returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Daniel Webster for a 3:00 p.m. contest with the Eagles while the Pride remain in Weston on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. showdown with the Elms Blazers.