HARTFORD, Conn. – The Regis (Mass.) men's basketball team dominated from start to finish en route to a 77-67 win over Westfield State in the opening round of the Trinity Holiday Men's Basketball Classic Saturday at Oosting Gymnasium.
Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) had the hot hand, shooting 8-11 from the floor to the tune of a game-high 18 points. Four of the five Pride (4-4) starters posted double figures in points with Dimitri Rosa (Tiverton, R.I.) adding 13 points off the bench.
Marcus Collins and Moody Bey both had 17 points to lead the Owls (5-7). Anthony Reynolds added 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals while Ty Sands accounted for Westfield State's fourth double-digit scorer with 12 points.
After falling behind by three in the opening minutes, the Pride reeled off 10 straight points and never relinquished control of the game. The lead swelled to 21-9 at the 12:07 mark thanks to a three-pointer from Jordan Seldon (Dorchester, Mass.). Two minutes later, Rosa nailed a triple of his own to extend the lead to 24-10 as the Pride kept Westfield State at arms length for a majority of the half. Reynolds cut the deficit to 10 with 3:10 left to go in the opening frame, but a jumper by Afonja followed by an old-fashioned three-point play by Tim Broom (Jacksonville, Fla.) on the following possession put Regis back ahead by 15. The Owls trimmed the lead back to 10 at the half thanks to a buzzer-beater by Reynolds.
The Pride held strong in the second half, holding a double-digit lead for all but one minute the rest of the way. Westfield State tried to make things interesting with 7:44 left to play when a strong defensive stand that ended with a steal by Sam Traicoff led to a layup at the other end of the court by Bey. Regis responded, however, with a three-pointer by Rosa to reclaim a 13-point lead. A tough bucket by Collins down low with 1:39 left to play made it a 73-65 game but it was too little, too late as the Pride held on for the 10-point victory.
The Pride will square off against Trinity in tomorrow's tournament championship game at 2 p.m. while the Owls face St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) in the consolation game at noon.
#RegisMBB
Recap courtesy of Trinity sports information