CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Regis College men's basketball team booked their trip to the New England Collegiate Conference Tournament on Tuesday evening with a 81-73 victory over Lesley University. The win moved the Pride to 10-14, 7-8 NECC and the loss dropped the Lynx to 5-19 and 4-11 in conference play.
This is the fifth straight season under Coach Hager that the Pride have reached the NECC Postseason.
Lesley University junior Pierre St. Simon (Farmingdale, N.Y.) poured in a career-high 24 points while adding five rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals to his line. He led three Lynx in double-figures as classmate Devon Mayo (Newport News, Va.) finished with 17 points while tying a career-high with seven assists. Senior Chris Barletta (Valrico, Fla.) added 15 points, four rebounds, and four assists for the hosts while junior Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Wash.) poured in nine.
Regis junior Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) powered a balanced attack for the Pride, coming off the bench for 16 points and five boards while classmate Jeff Tagger (Brockton, Mass.) netted 13. Senior Hector Heredia (Lawrence, Mass.) and junior Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) combined to hit five three's to finish with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while freshman Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) also finished in double-digits with ten.
The Lynx started hot in the first half as a pair of Mayo triples and a Barletta layup built a 13-5 lead over the opening 4:41 of play. Leak Jr. and the Pride punched right back, however, and used a 12-0 run over the next four minutes to claim a 17-13 edge. The junior forward ignited the run with a fast-break layup before scoring five unanswered points to cap it.
Later in the half, a Toney offensive rebound and put-back lifted the Lynx to a one-point advantage with just over four minutes to go before the break, but a Heredia trey on the next possession would quickly swing the lead back in favor of the Pride before taking a 32-30 edge into the locker room.
Regis would explode out of the gate in the second stanza and used an 11-2 streak to push their lead to double-digits, 43-32.
After a three by Pride senior Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) extended the edge to 56-42 with 10:12 on the clock, Regis would go without a made field goal over the next nearly seven minutes of play but knocked down 14-of-18 from the charity stripe to keep the lead in double-digits.
The Lynx would trim the deficit back to seven, 72-65, with 2:45 to play using a 9-4 spurt capped by a Barletta layup, but the Pride quickly regained control with six unanswered points and closed out the 81-73 victory.
Regis will wrap up their regular season at home for Senior Night on Thursday against Wheelock College. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.
Release Courtesy of Lesley University Sports Information