Regis Men’s Hoop Falls at Top Ranked USJ

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph, the top ranked team in this week's D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll, took early control and never looked back, defeating Regis College, 86-49, Thursday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball game at Calhoun Gymnasium.

Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.) led the Pride with 15 points, while Zakaria Latifi (Holliston, Mass.) finished with eight points and four rebounds. Anthony Salazar (Hialeah, Fla.) was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line as he scored a season-high eight points, and Joey Reyes Serrano (Boston, Mass.) hit his first career three-pointer on the way to a season-high five points.

USJ (17-0, 10-0 GNAC) held Regis without a field goal for the first 7:46 of the contest, opening a 14-1 advantage before Evelyn hit a three-pointer. Over the final nine minutes of the first half, the Blue Jays put together a 23-3 scoring run, capped by an offensive rebound and dunk from Alec Kinder.

The second half featured a 7-0 Regis scoring run, capped by a three-pointer from Gehrig Brynda (Deerfield, Mass.), before USJ scored seven unanswered points on consecutive layups by Jaecee Martin and a three-pointer from Jake Sullivan. A 16-5 Blue Jay scoring run late in the half allowed the home team to establish its largest lead of the night on the way to USJ's 17^th straight victory.

Sullivan led the Blue Jays with 14 points, followed by Ryan O'Neill with 12 points and Martin with 11 points. Kinder finished with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds as USJ won the rebounding battle, 39-31, and scored 36 points off Regis turnovers.

Regis College (7-9, 3-6 GNAC) heads west to face Elms College Saturday, Jan. 21, beginning at 3 p.m. The Pride defeated the Blazers Dec. 3 at Higgins Court, 72-70.