WESTON, Mass. – Ahmad Charles (Cambridge, Mass.) recorded his first collegiate double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Regis College men's basketball team over Wheelock College, 68-52, on Thursday night in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action in Weston, Mass.
Charles led four players in double-digits for the Pride (8-14, 8-5 NECC) including 17 points from Ryan Chambers (Abington, Mass.) and 13 points apiece from Osanto Marc (Kissimmee, Fla.) and Evin Matted (Hartford, Conn.), who each also added seven rebounds each.
The Pride sprinted out to a quick 6-0 lead to open the game on back-to-back baskets by Evin Matted and a layup by Marc and took a commanding 14-1 advantage on a pair of Ryan Chambers threes, prompting a Wheelock timeout at the 14:37 mark. Following another Matted basket, Scott Sobel (Silver Spring, Md.) connected on the Wildcats' first field goal at 13:38 and Sean Semerjian (Montreal, Quebec) buried a deep three two minutes later to make it an 18-10 game.
Another Chambers triple pushed the lead back to 11, but Bashir Hudson (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) answered with a jumper of his own to keep the lead under 10. With 7:16 to play, Hudson connected on a jumper and Sobel buried a three to cut the lead to 24-17. The teams traded baskets and Ahmad Charles gave the Pride its last double-digit lead of the half with 2:51 to play before Wheelock's Hudson converted a jumper and the Wildcats went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to make it a 32-29 game headed into the break.
Ryan Chambers and Evin Matted led the Pride with nine points apiece in the opening frame, while Marc added six of his own and a pair of steals. Semerjian led Wheelock with 10 points and Bashir Hudson nearly posted a double-double in the opening period with nine points and nine rebounds.
Wheelock's Semerjian opened the second period with a three-ball that tied the game at 32 apiece. Regis slowly built its lead back to three points, but Semerjian answered with another three that tied it at 36-all with 14:43 to play. A pair of Sobel freethrows tied the game up at 40 nearly two minutes later, but the Pride went on a quick 6-0 spurt on a layup by Charles and four-straight freebies from Chambers and Mike McCloskey (Winter Springs, Fla.) to stake the Pride to a 46-40 lead.
Daniel Higgins (Wakefield, Mass.) buried a three with 10:14 to play to make it a one possession game, but the Pride rattled off a 14-3 run capped off by a Chambers jumper to make it a 60-46 game. The Pride lead never fell below 11 as Regis held on for its third-straight NECC win with the 68-54 victory.
Regis outrebounded the Wildcats at a 45-30 clip and also edged Wheelock in turnovers, 16-17, which the Pride turned into 19 points off turnovers.
Wheelock (3-18, 2-11 NECC) was led by 16 points from Sean Semerjian, while Bashir Hudson posted a double-double of 11 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Daniel Higgins added 12 points and Scott Sobel chipped in eight points, four rebounds, and three assists.
Due to the impending blizzard, the Pride get back to action on Monday night with a vital 8:00 p.m. NECC game against Becker College in Weston, Mass. Wheelock tries to snap a seven game skid on Monday night as well, with the Wildcats hosting Elms College at 6:00 p.m. on the campus of Pine Manor.