Afonja Grabs Career High 20 Rebounds, Pride Edge Newbury

WESTON, Mass. - Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) put up 10 points and pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds, 10 on the offensive end, and the Regis (Mass.) men's basketball team staved off a second half rally to defeat Newbury 75-74, Saturday in New England Collegiate Conference action at Higgins Court.

Jordan Seldon (Everett, Mass.) added a game-high 20 points, shooting a sizzling 4-7 from beyond the arc for the Pride who improved to 5-7 and 2-1 in the NECC. The Nighthawks (0-9, 0-3 NECC) were led by Daivon Edwards' (Roxbury, Mass.) 19 points.

Regis went up by 10 with 11:31 to play after an Afonja layup but saw Newbury reel off 13 straight points to take a 64-61 lead with 5:24 to play. The Pride responded with a run of its own as jumpers by Afonja and Chris Leak, Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) bookended a 9-0 run and gave their team a four-point lead with 35 seconds to play.

Edwards would not let the Nighthawks go quietly, nailing a three pointer to cut the lead to one with six seconds to play. The Pride ensured those would be the final points of the game for Newbury and held on for the one-point win.

Regis built its lead with a 9-2 spurt late in the first half. Seldon's layup and three pointer helped lift the Pride to a 39-31 lead with 1:48 remaining in the period. Dimitri Rosa (Tiverton, R.I.) connected on a pair of three pointers in the second half as Regis held its largest lead of 59-49 with 13 minutes to play.

Julio Galay (Bronx, N.Y.) posted six points, four rebounds and three assists for the Pride with Ceejae Carter (Dorchester, Mass.) and Jeduan Langston (Roxbury, Mass.) adding 15 and 11 points, respectively for Newbury.

Next up for the Pride, the team will travel to Becker College Thursday night for an NECC matchup with the Hawks. For the Nighthawks, they return to the court Tuesday night to host Southern Vermont at Hellenic College at 7:30 p.m.

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