FRANKLIN, Mass. - Regis College held the lead for 79 percent of its Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener, but Dean College made a furious comeback down the stretch in regulation, grabbed the early lead in overtime, and held on to defeat the Pride, 91-90, Saturday afternoon in a GNAC men's basketball game at Pieri Gymnasium.
Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.) shot 7-for-12 from the field, including 5-for-8 from behind the three-point line, and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line for a career-high 28 points, plus he dished out six assists. Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) notched a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Zakaria Latifi (Holliston, Mass.) finished with 12 points and five rebounds.
With Regis ahead at halftime, 40-31, Moussa Berete scored the first five points of the second half to bring Dean within four points, but the Pride quickly answered with a 16-5 scoring run. Midway through the second half, Joshua Perez (Lynn, Mass.) hit a jumper to give Regis its largest lead of the game at 65-49.
The Bulldogs started their rally with a 14-3 scoring run, capped by a driving layup from Charles Walker. Evelyn responded with a three-pointer, followed by a made basket by Rau to bring the Regis lead back into double digits before an exchange of three-pointers by Walker and Rau.
Berete connected on back-to-back three-pointers within 34 seconds, and Walker followed with another three-pointer to cut the Regis lead to three at 78-75 with three minutes remaining in regulation. After several empty possessions for both teams, Tyler Newsom hit two free throws and AJ Weston went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe to give the home team an 81-78 lead with 4.9 seconds left on the clock, but Rau hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc as the buzzer sounded to force overtime.
Tommy Huynh hit a three-pointer 30 seconds into the extra period, but Latifi responded with his own long distance basket 45 seconds after that. The Bulldogs took the lead for good on a layup by Newsom and two free throws from Weston. Evelyn made two free throws to once again make it a one-possession game, but Weston again connected on two free throws. Rau banked in a three-pointer to bring Regis within one, but with just 0.2 seconds showing, all Dean had to do was inbound the ball to run out the clock.
Dean scored six straight points early in the first half to open a 9-4 lead, but Evelyn hit a three-pointer to stop the Bulldog run and start a 14-1 Regis scoring streak that was punctuated by a three-pointer from Gehrig Brynda (Deerfield, Mass.). A layup by Evelyn gave Regis its largest lead of the first half at 34-21, but the Bulldogs scored eight straight points to pull within five points at 34-29 late in the first half. Evelyn continued his hot shooting with two three-pointers in the final minute-and-a-half before halftime to allow the Pride to take their 40-31 lead into intermission.
Weston went 17-for-18 from the charity stripe as he led the Bulldogs with 23 points and six assists, while Berete finished with 19 points and Walker contributed 15 points. Newsom notched a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Jayden Madise added 13 points and eight rebounds to the winning effort.
As a team, Dean shot 40.6 percent (28-for-69) from the field, including 9-for-22 from behind the three-point line, and 76.5 percent (26-for-34) from the free throw line. The Bulldogs won the rebounding battle, 45-40, including 16 offensive boards leading to 15 second chance points, plus Dean scored 17 points off 15 Regis turnovers.
The Pride shot 44.8 percent (30-for-67) from the field, tying the program record with 14 made three-pointers in a single game, and 69.6 percent (16-for-23) from the free throw line. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field in the second half before making just two field goals apiece in the overtime period.
Regis College (2-5, 0-1 GNAC) hosts Worcester State Wednesday, Dec. 6, starting at 7 p.m. at Higgins Court. At halftime, the All-GNAC honorees from men's and women's cross country, field hockey, men's and women's soccer, and women's volleyball will be recognized.