Pride Lose Season Opener to Trinity Bantams

Pride Lose Season Opener to Trinity Bantams

WESTON, Mass. – Regis College could not overcome scoring runs by Trinity College in each half, as the Bantams defeated the Pride, 71-56, Friday night in a non-conference men's collegiate basketball game at Higgins Court.

Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.) led the Pride with 14 points and three assists, while Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Trinity was led by Henry Vetter (Kenilworth, Ill.) with 19 points and Ben Callahan-Gold (New York, N.Y.) with 17 points and a game-high seven rebounds.

After Evelyn hit a three-pointer early in the first half, Trinity put together a 10-2 scoring run, capped by a layup from Dana Smith (Providence, R.I.), to pull ahead, 14-7. The Pride scored seven unanswered points, punctuated by another three-pointer from Evelyn, to tie the game at 14-14 midway through the first half.

The Bantams rattled off nine straight points, capped by a three-pointer from Sean Macarchuk (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.), and eventually increased their lead to 14 points at 33-19 thanks to another 10-0 scoring run. Trinity shot 50 percent from the field (14-for-28) in the first half as it took a 36-25 lead into halftime.

Trinity took solid control of the contest midway through the second half thanks to a 12-2 scoring run driven by Vetter and Callahan-Gold with six points apiece. Regis scored nine unanswered points to close to within 10 points at 63-53, but layups by Smith and Callahan-Gold helped the Bantams close out the game.

As a team, Trinity shot 45.9 percent (28-for-61) from the field for the game, while Regis was held to 38.5 percent (20-for-52) field goal shooting, but the Pride did hit 10-of-11 free throw chances. The Bantams won the rebounding battle, 41-26, including 18 offensive boards that led to 23 second chance points.

Regis College (0-1) hosts Rhode Island College Tuesday, Nov. 14, starting at 7 p.m. at Higgins Court. Trinity College (1-0) hosts the University of Hartford Sunday afternoon, Nov. 12, beginning at 2 p.m.