Men’s Basketball Overcomes Deficit to Defeat Johnson & Wales on Senior Night

Men’s Basketball Overcomes Deficit to Defeat Johnson & Wales on Senior Night
February 17, 2022
WESTON, Mass. - Zakaria Latifi (Holliston, Mass.) shot 7-for-10 from behind the three-point line to help Regis College overcome a slow start and defeat Johnson and Wales, 65-61, Thursday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Higgins Court.
 
Latifi was the catalyst for the Regis offense, coming off the bench to lead the Pride with a career-high 21 points. Marc Trinidad (Bronx, N.Y.) contributed 14 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, while Cameron Wilkins (Taunton, Mass.) added 13 points and six rebounds. Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) finished the night with 10 points.
 
Regis College was slow out of the gate, allowing the visitors to take a 16-2 lead with 13:30 remaining in the first half. A three-pointer from Rau woke up the Pride offense as they chipped away at the deficit, ending the half down, 37-27.
 
To start off the second half, it appeared as if the Wildcats were about to run away with the game as they extended their lead to 20 points, 49-29, with 14:24 remaining in regulation. The Pride kicked off its unlikely comeback with a 10-2 scoring run, bookended by a pair of three-pointers from Latifi. With 4:28 remaining in the second half, Latifi hit yet another three-pointer to tie the game up at 54-54. Moments later, Wilkins knocked down a pair of free throws to give Regis its first lead of the night.
 
With the Pride leading 63-59, Wildcat center Tim Deng threw down a dunk to make it a two-point game with 15 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Wilkins broke the Wildcat press and found Trinidad, who capped off the scoring for the night with a slam dunk of his own to clinch the victory for Regis College.
 
The Wildcats had four players score in double digits with Bryan Davis leading the way with 13 points and 14 rebounds to secure the double-double. Josh Zangerle added 12 points and eight rebounds while Bobby Fiorito and Aireus Raspberry each finished with 11 points.
 
The Pride shot 9-for-20 (45.0 percent) from behind the three-point line compared to 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) for Johnson and Wales. The Wildcats struggled from the free-throw line, shooting 11-for-19 (57.9 percent) while the Pride shot 12-for-17 (70.6 percent). Regis was able to force 17 turnovers which led to 19 additional points.
 
Before the game, Trinidad and Jalil Wilkerson (New Haven, Conn.) were honored in a Senior Night presentation.
 
Regis College (11-12, 8-9 GNAC) caps off the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 19, at Colby-Sawyer, with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m. Johnson and Wales (10-13, 8-9 GNAC) will also travel to New Hampshire to face Rivier University, also with a 3 p.m. start.