WESTON, Mass. - Sophomore guard Jordan Seldon (Everett, Mass.) scored 25 points and senior forward Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) added a double-double (19 points, 13 boards) on Thursday night as the Regis (Mass.) men's basketball team got the best of Southern Vermont College by a score of 94-80 in New England Collegiate Conference action.
With the win, the Pride improves to 3-3 on the season (1-0 NECC), while the Mountaineers fall to 2-4 (0-1 NECC).
The Mountaineers jumped out to the early 10-6 lead in the opening half thanks in part to three-pointers from Daemond Carter (Forestville, Md.) and Josh Borders (Miami, Fla.), but the lead was short lived. With the Pride trailing 10-9, Leak came up with a big blocked shot on the defensive end that led to a fast break. Off a missed layup by freshman Shaun Wingfield (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), sophomore guard Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) swept up the miss with an emphatic put-back dunk to put the Pride ahead 11-10 at the 15:06 mark of the first half, a lead the Pride would never lose on their way to the victory.
The Pride held a 52-38 lead at the half, but the Mountaineers refused to go down quietly. Southern Vermont opened the second half on a 17-7 run to cut the Regis lead to 59-55 with 14:32 to play, but a Seldon three halted SVC's momentum and got the Pride back on track. The Mountaineers had a number of players in foul trouble and could not overcome the deficit down the stretch.
As a team, the Pride shot 50.8% from the floor on the evening, including hitting 10-of-21 (47.6%) from beyond the three-point arc. Regis also out-rebounded the Mountaineers by a margin of 48-22. The Pride's 94 points is the most they have scored in a game since Feb. 20, 2010, when they beat Anna Maria 101-96 in double overtime.
Senior forward Jaiwon Martin (Coral Springs, Fla.) scored 22 points off the bench for the Pride to finish just behind Seldon's team-leading 25. The Mountaineers were paced offensively by 22 points from Borders and 21 from Rayshawn Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.), who poured in 21.
Next up for Regis, they will travel to Daniel Webster to take on the Eagles on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The Mountaineers will play at the exact same time when they host Lesley University in their next appearance.
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