WHEELOCK SHOOTS PAST PRIDE, 71-65

WESTON, Mass. – Wheelock College used 11 made three-pointers to defeat host Regis College, 71-65, in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball matchup on Wednesday night in Weston, Mass. The loss drops the Pride to 10-13 overall on the year and 9-6 in the NECC, while Wheelock ends its season at 3-22 and 2-14 in league games.

The first half was a back and forth affair as an offensive rebound and put back by Wheelock's Anthony Williams (White Plains, N.Y.) made it an 11-8 ball game with 14:49 to play. An Osanto Marc Jr. (Kissimmee, Fla.) three pointer as the shot clock expired cut the deficit to 14-13, and a jumper from Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) gave the Pride a 15-14 advantage at the 10:19 mark.

Back-to-back three's from Andrew Kirkman (Dartmouth, Mass.) staked the Wildcats to a 20-17 lead, and a triple from Joe Reedy (Orlando, Fla.) with 6:25 remaining followed by another Williams basket gave Wheelock their largest lead of the period at 25-19. Jaren Scrubb (Stowe, Vt.) checked into the game and knocked down a three to cut the deficit in half, and he later gave the Pride a 26-25 lead to cap off a 7-0 run with a fast break layup.

Nicholas Fenton (East Hartford, Conn.) put Wheelock back on top by one with a baseline jumper with just over a minute to play, and Jean-Gilles answered with a three pointer to give the Pride a 29-27 lead headed into the final 30 seconds. As time winded down, Fenton drove the lane and kicked out to senior Paul Coucci (Dartmouth, Mass.), who knocked down a deep three in the closing seconds of the half to give the visitors a 30-29 lead headed into the intermission.

The teams traded baskets at the start of the second half before a Marc Jr. layup followed by a monster dunk on the fast break from Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) put Regis on top 43-39 with 14:25 remaining. Fenton made it a one possession game with a jumper, but the Pride got a three from Ahmad Charles (Cambridge, Mass.) and a jumper from Marc Jr. that forced a Wheelock timeout with the Wildcats trailing 48-41 and 11:43 remaining in the game.

Out of the break, Paul Coucci connected on a three pointer to cut it to four, before Leak Jr. slammed home another dunk on a nice feed from Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) and Jean-Gilles hit a layup to give the Pride their largest lead of the game at 52-44. Coucci then connected on three-straight three pointers over the next three minutes of play to give the Wildcats a 53-52 lead. Derek Fournier (Johnston, R.I.) extended it to a 12-0 run with a triple of his own and Andrew Kirkman capped off a 14-0 stretch with a running layup to put Wheelock on top 58-52 with 5:54 to play.

Regis and Wheelock traded blows over the final five-plus minutes of action as the Pride tried to make it a one possession game. Four-straight freethrows by Ahmad Charles in the final two minutes cut the deficit to 64-61 with just over a minute to play but Regis was forced to foul, and Wheelock hit 7-of-9 freebies down the stretch as the Pride offense went stagnant, and the Wildcats held on for the 71-65 victory.

Regis won the rebounding battle 48-31, grabbing 23 offensive rebounds and dominating points in the paint 34-16. The Pride committed 14 turnovers to only 12 for the Wildcats and Wheelock turned the 14 missteps into 16 points off turnovers. Regis struggled from the floor, shooting only 36.2% from the field (25-of-69), and hit only 4-of-19 three-pointers en route to a 21.1% showing from beyond the arc. Wheelock shot 25-of-54 from the floor for a 46.3% clip and buried 11-of-23 triples (47.8%).

Osanto Marc Jr. led the Pride with 20 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists. Ahmad Charles added 15 points, eight rebounds, and three steals, while Sam Jean-Gilles also added 15 points to go with six boards. Ethan Peana (Staten Island, N.Y.) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, and Chris Leak Jr. came off the bench to chip in four points and seven rebounds.

Wheelock was led by Paul Coucci's 20 points on six made three-pointers, and the senior also added a team-high eight rebounds. Anthony Williams scored 19 points and had four rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal. Nicholas Fenton had an all-around game with eight points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Andrew Kirkman added nine points and three steals in the win.

The Crimson and Gold return to action on Saturday afternoon when the Pride travel to Mitchell College for their New England Collegiate Conference regular season finale at 2:00 p.m.