INTERACTIVE BRACKET | PRINTABLE BRACKET
NEWPORT, R.I. (February 24, 2022) - Graduate student Cameron Collins (Montville, Conn.) scored 20 of his game-high 28 points in the second half while leading No. 2 Salve Regina University men's basketball to a 66-62 victory over No. 6 Western New England University in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinals at the Rodgers Recreation Center on Thursday evening.
The Seahawks (21-6) advance to their first championship appearance since 2012, and will play at top-seeded Nichols College on Saturday, February 26 (6 p.m.). The four-time defending champion Bison (24-3) snuck by No. 4 seed Suffolk, 87-86, to secure the home championship tilt.
The Bison and Seahawks first faced off against each other in this year's conference opener on Dec. 1 with Nichols stealing a 67-66 result on the road. The second regular-season meeting was just as close as the game went into overtime with Nichols pulling out the 82-78 win.
The winner of Saturday's championship game will be named the 2022 CCC Men's Basketball Tournament Champion and earn the league's automatic qualifier into the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.
Tonight, the Seahawks and Golden Bears stayed close throughout the entire 40 minutes. Salve Regina held the lead nearly 20 more minutes than the visitors (26:45 to 06:52), but neither team had a lead larger than seven points. The game featured 13 lead changes and 10 ties, including a 30-30 deadlock at halftime.
Collins, the CCC Scholar Athlete this season, got his second-half scoring started with his second chance driving layup after an offensive rebound for senior Mikey Spencer (Abington, Mass.). Graduate student Alex Sikorski (Rocky Hill, Conn.) answered on an ensuing possession with a layup before sophomore Brian Geitner (Tolland, Conn.) drilled his only 3-pointer of the game for the Golden Bears.
Spencer hit a long-range jumper and then Collins and freshman Jake Harrison (South Boston, Mass.) exchanged layups that knotted the score at 37-all with 13:37 on the clock.
Salve Regina went on the longest run of the game to take the biggest lead of the game, 7-0 over nearly two minutes. Spencer and Clay Brochu (North Kingstown, R.I.) both swished 3-pointers and graduate student Kevin Kelly (Valhalla, N.Y.) dropped a free throw for a 44-37 Seahawk advantage at 11:41.
Sophomore Tim Restall (Tolland, Conn.) and Collins exchanged layups and the teams went back-and-forth with a five- and seven-point margin for nearly six minutes. Harrison's layup at 5:59 started a 6-0 run for Western New England. Spencer's free throws at 3:14 pushed the Seahawk lead back to three, 58-55, before the Golden Bears scored on successive possessions with Gavin Greene (Monroe, Conn.) and Restall both in the paint giving WNE a lead at 59-58 with 2:09 remaining.
Collins' layups in the next minute gave the three-point cushion back to the Seahawks, and then his free throws on a one-and-one trip to the line put the Seahawks up five with 23 seconds left. Sikorski calmly sank a clutch three from the top of the arc with nine full ticks left, but Kelly was able to find Spencer on the inbounds play following a Golden Bear timeout and the senior's free throws were the final points. Spencer finished with 16 points and Kelly dished out nine assists. Collins led the Seahawks with nine rebounds.
For the Golden Bears (13-14), Geitner and Greene both had 14 points, Restall and Sikorski scored 12 and 11, respectively. Harrison had a game-high 11 rebounds in the loss.
#ICYMI @SalveBasketball won a thriller in front of a packed house at the Rodgers Recreation Center to advance to the @CCC_Sports Championship game! pic.twitter.com/kLvpYFwRgQ
— Salve Regina Sports (@SalveAthletics) February 25, 2022