Pride Men’s Hoop Holds On to Defeat Norwich, 67-65

NORTHFIELD, Vt. - Regis College could not pull away from Norwich University, but the Pride eventually held on to defeat the Cadets, 67-65, Thursday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball game at Andrews Hall.

Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) scored a career-high 31 points on 11-for-16 field goal shooting, including four three-pointers, and 5-for-5 free throw shooting. Devante Thompson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) hit three three-pointers as he finished with 13 points, and Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.) added 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Rau opened the second half with a step-back jumper, and Thompson followed with two three-pointers as the Pride went back on top, 46-40. The Cadets closed to within one point at 50-49 midway through the half, but Rau scored five straight points to extend the Regis lead back to six at 55-49.

Owen Liss hit a three-pointer with 3:39 left in the second half, followed by two made free throws with 2:25 remaining to give Norwich a 62-60 advantage. On Regis' next possession, Zakaria Latifi (Holliston, Mass.) hit a three-pointer to put the Pride ahead for good, as Evelyn made two free throws and a jumper off a steal and assist from Jamir Harvey (Robbins, Ill.) to increase the advantage to 67-62.

Kohlby Murray hit a three-pointer with 19 seconds left on the clock to bring Norwich back within one possession. After a Regis missed free throw, the Cadets had one more opportunity to tie or win the game, but Liss missed a jumper and Thompson grabbed the rebound at the buzzer.

Liss led the Cadets with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Donovan Lewis Jr. finished with 14 points and Jalen Olivero contributed eight points, seven rebounds, and five assists. As a team, Norwich shot 40.4 percent (23-for-57) from the field, including 5-for-16 from behind the three-point line, and 77.8 percent (14-for-18) from the free throw line.

Rau scored the first four points of the game and then hit a three-pointer to give the Pride an early 12-7 lead. Norwich quickly responded with an 18-2 scoring run, capped by a driving layup from Olivero, to take a 25-14 advantage and force a Regis timeout.

The Pride scored 10 unanswered points out of the timeout, featuring eight straight points by Rau, to pull within one point before Tom Dooling stopped the run with a three-pointer. Regis put together a 10-2 scoring run, capped by a layup from Cameron Wilkins (Taunton, Mass.), to retake the lead at 34-30 before the Cadets closed out the first half with a 6-2 scoring run, punctuated by a three-pointer from Olivero at the buzzer.

As a team, Regis shot 38.5 percent (25-for-65) from the field, including 8-for-25 from behind the three-point line, and 69.2 percent (9-for-13) from the free throw line. The Pride also enjoyed a 42-36 rebounding advantage on the way to their second straight victory.

Regis College (9-9, 5-6 GNAC) hosts Johnson & Wales Saturday, Jan. 28, beginning at 1 p.m., with the unveiling of the updated 1,000-point banner featuring Marc Trinidad '22 to take place at halftime. It is also the annual Suits and Sneakers game in conjunction with Coaches vs. Cancer to raise awareness about the fight against cancer.