BOSTON – The Regis College men's basketball team earned their second victory of the week defeating New England Collegiate Conference opponent Wheelock College 68-58 on Thursday evening. The victory, the Pride's second in a row improves their record to 6-12, 3-6 NECC and the loss drops the Wildcats to 5-12, 3-6 NECC.
Freshman Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored a team-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. He also secured eight boards. Jeff Tagger Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) led all Pride starters with 12 points while snagging seven rebounds and handing out four assists.
Wheelock got the ball rolling to start the contest, using a Lawrence Christmas (Garner, N.C.) three and a Dejuan Rodriguez (New Britain, Conn.) jumper for a 5-0 lead. The Wildcats would maintain their lead until the 12:52 mark when Ademola Afonja hit a pair from the line to even things up at 10. The Pride would fight back to even the score again at 16, and eventually gaining their first lead of the night, 18-16, after an Afonja jumper with 8:16 left in the half.
The two squads exchanged leads back and forth over the remainder of the half, but it was Regis who made their way to the locker room up 35-31.
The teams took turns adding two at a time in the opening minutes of the second period, but the Pride was able to reclaim their lead and never look back. With 7:29 to go, The Wildcats found themselves down 53-48. It seemed as though the momentum was shifting after a Derek Fournier (Johnston, R.I.) three put Wheelock within two, but Regis answered right back with a Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) three to silence the crowd. The Pride would use the next and final 7 minutes to add to their lead, eventually reaching their largest of the night, 65-55, and a final score of 68-58.
Junior forward Anthony Williams (White Plains, N.Y.) led all players with a 19 point 14 rebound double-double. Also chipping in for Wheelock was Devin Brown, who added 9 points and 8 rebounds.
Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) scored in double figures with 10 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Pride while Hector Heredia (Lawrence, Mass.) added seven points, three rebounds and two assists in the victory.
Wheelock played well defensively, holding Regis to 36.6 percent from the floor and 36.4 percent from three-point range.
The Wildcats will resume their schedule on February 2, when they travel to Lesley University for an 8:00 p.m. NECC contest. Regis plays again on January 30 at Daniel Webster College.
Release Courtesy of Wheelock College Sports Information