BOSTON – Regis College stayed with Emmanuel College throughout the first half, but the Saints opened the second half with a significant run on their way to an 83-62 victory over the Pride Tuesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Andy Yosinoff Court.
Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) finished the night as Regis's leading scorer with 11 points, but they all came in the first half as he left the game early in the second half with an injury and did not return. Milik Wallace (Hinesville, Ga.) hit three three-pointers for nine points, Jordan Seldon (Dorchester, Mass.) ended up with eight points and four steals, and Dimitri Rosa (Tiverton, R.I.) also scored eight points, plus he dished out a team-high three assists.
Emmanuel (12-4, 3-0 GNAC) jumped out to an 11-2 lead and eventually held a 19-9 advantage thanks in part to a three-pointer by Emmett Riddick. A layup by Juvens Dalger (City of Sunrise, Fla.) and a three-pointer from Josh Germain (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) cut the Pride deficit in half, and then the two teams basically exchanged points for the next eight minutes.
Regis pulled to within three at 30-27 and forced an Emmanuel turnover to earn a chance to move closer, but a steal and layup by Joe Tamburro, followed by two free throws from Ira Lough, extended the Saint lead back to seven with two minutes left in the first half. Three-pointers by Devante Thompson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Wallace down the stretch allowed the Pride to go into the locker room at halftime down by just five at 38-33.
The Saints took control at the start of the second half with a 16-2 scoring run, beginning with five points from Marcus Fox and concluding with five straight points by Riddick. Regis scored seven unanswered points later in the half to close to within 14 at 73-59, but Emmanuel closed out the game with a 10-3 scoring run in the final four minutes.
Fox led the Saints with 20 points, while Riddick finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Isaiah Ruffin contributed eight points, 16 rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots, and Lough added 13 points off the bench for Emmanuel.
As a team, the Saints shot 49.2 percent (32-of-65) from the field, including 7-of-16 from behind the three-point line, and 75 percent (12-of-16) from the free throw line. Emmanuel dominated the rebounding battle, 56-31, including 21 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second chance points.
The Pride shot just 33.8 percent (24-of-71) from the field, including 8-of-28 from behind the three-point line, and 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from the free throw line. Regis did score 15 points off 22 Emmanuel turnovers while committing just 11 turnovers.
Regis (6-10, 1-1 GNAC) heads to New London, N.H., to face Colby-Sawyer College Thursday, Jan. 17, starting at 7 p.m. The Pride return to Higgins Court to face Lasell College Saturday, Jan. 19, beginning at 1 p.m.