WESTON, Mass.—Regis College men's basketball will make history following a 65-64 win over conference opponent Anna Maria Saturday. Anna Maria was ranked first in The Commonwealth Coast Conference entering Saturday's game. Regis College is now in a four-way tie for postseason seeding.
Regis College handed Anna Maria its second loss in TCCC play this season. With the win, and 8-5 TCCC record, Regis College will qualify for its first postseason appearance in men's basketball history.
The announcement of playoff positioning is expected to be released by the conference office late Saturday evening.
In a battle that featured three double-digit scorers for Regis College, and eight lead changes, the Pride also posted 36 points from inside the paint. Senior Phil Alibrandi (York, Maine/York) led all Regis scorers with 15 points and eight rebounds. Saturday was Alibrandi's second double-digit performance. He had 22 points versus Nichols. Alibrandi could also be the second 1,000-point scorer in men's basketball history with approximately 10 points remaining. Teammate Derrick Neal (Boston, Mass./Brighton) earned the benchmark in 2010.
If Alibrandi captures his 1,000th career point it will be the first time in Regis College history that two players have reached so many points in the same year.
Neal contributed just nine points in his 38 minutes of play. Senior Darrin Kelley (South Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) had 11 points, while freshman Ryan Chambers (Abington, Mass./Abington) chimed in with 10 points. Chambers made his first career start at Anna Maria. Chambers hit a three-pointer at 12:25 in the first period to give Regis College its largest lead at that time (19-4).
Neal contributed with a three-pointer at 7:49 with Regis College up 24-13. Two good free throws by Alibrandi, and a lay-up in the paint by Kandley Val (Boston, Mass./Cathedral) advanced Regis College to a 17-point lead (35-18).
The Pride held its largest lead of 18-points at 15:20 in the second half. Regis finished the first half up 35-23, but allowed 41 points to be scored by the AMCats in the second half.
Anna Maria began to steadily chip away at the Pride lead at 12:35 in the second half, before cutting it to eight points (50-42) at 9:37. Chris Pinsonault tied the game at 54-all at 5:31 before teammate Anthony Click gave Anna Maria its first lead of the game.
With the game within one point at 2:43, each team would battle until a three-pointer by Kelley gave Regis College the lead and game at 65-64 with 26-seconds remaining in the game.
The Pride shot an impressive 42.4 percent from the floor, a drastic improvement from its sub-35 percent shooting against Nichols College. Having just eight attempts from the free-throw line, Regis College converted 5-for-8 (.625). In comparison, Anna Maria was 17-for-19.
Seeding for the playoffs are to be released late Saturday evening, with quarterfinal action beginning Tuesday (Jan. 23).