WESTON, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) men's basketball team couldn't stop Lesley University from beyond the arc on Tuesday night at Higgins Court, as the Lynx spoiled the Pride's Senior Night, defeating the home team 92-83 in New England Collegiate Conference action.
With the loss, the Pride has been mathematically eliminated from NECC Tournament contention, falling to 5-10 in conference and 8-16 overall. Lesley moves to 8-7 in NECC play on the season and 14-10 overall.
The Lynx couldn't miss in the game's opening half, as the team shot 61.8 percent (16-for-26) from the floor in the first twenty minutes, including a lights out 9-for-11 from three-point land. Lesley senior Devon Mayo (Newport News, Va.) led the charge from beyond the arc, hitting all four of his three-point attempts and scoring a game-high 16 points in the first half.
On the other side of the floor, the Pride struggled in the first half offensively, shooting just 29.7 percent (11-for-37) and missing all 10 of its three-point attempts. Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) led the Pride with 12 points before the break.
At halftime, the Pride honored its three seniors, forwards Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.), Jean-Gilles and Jaiwon Martin (Coral Springs, Fla.). The players were joined on the court by their friends and families as well as head coach Nate Hager.
When the teams returned from the locker room, not much changed, as the Lynx continued to light up the floor and the Pride still couldn't find the basket. Lesley hit seven more threes on 11 attempts in the final half to finish shooting an impressive 16-for-22 from three to cruise to the win. Sophomore Joey Martin (Melbourne, Fla.) led the Lynx by hitting five threes on seven attempts, finishing the night with 17 points.
Regis began to find their stroke a little too late, as the Pride was able to cut a 20-point deficit down to seven in the closing minutes, but the home team simply ran out of time. The Lynx hit 9-of-14 free throws in the final two minutes of the game to ice it and close out the victory.
Mayo finished as the game's high-point man, scoring 25 points in his team's win. Along with Martin's 17, LaMarr Mitchell (Baltimore, Md.) had 12 and Pierre St. Simon (Farmingdale, N.Y.) had 10 to wrap up Lesley's offensive charge. Jean-Gilles' 20 led the Pride, who also had four scorers in double figures. Sophomore Jordan Seldon (Everett, Mass.) put home 19, with Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) scoring 16 and Leak Jr. adding 14.
The Pride will conclude its regular season on Thursday night in a road matchup against Wheelock at 6:30 p.m. The Lynx will be off until Saturday, when they wrap up their regular season by hosting Elms at 6:30 p.m.
#RegisMBB