WESTON, Mass.—Regis College (15-11, 8-7 TCCC) will compete in its first Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Quarterfinal game Wednesday, March 2 versus Eastern Connecticut State University (19-9, 10-4 LEC) at 7:30 PM. The ECAC office made the announcement via email Monday.
Regis College most recently competed in The Commonwealth Coast Conference quarterfinal versus Salve Regina (Feb. 22). It was also the team’s first appearance in the conference tournament.
Eastern Connecticut State was defeated in the Little East Conference final 62-49 to top seed Rhode Island College. Eastern won the conference title in 2000. In the 2010-11 season, Eastern went 1-2 versus No. 17 Western Connecticut. Eastern posted a 94-70 win over the nations top 20 program. Mike Garrow scored a team-high 23 points in the WestConn defeat.
Its two losses to WestConn were by a combined 12 points. One of Eastern’s losses was a 75-71 contest on the road. Garrow played in 27 games, averaging just 6.6 points per game. Team leader Nick Nedwick, a junior, marked team-highs in points 19 times, and leads the program with an average of 17.8 points per game. Nedwick’s highest total was 29 points versus Plymouth State, and scored just 10 points in the title game versus Rhode Island. The 10-point performance was a team-high.
Nedwick is one of three top scorers for Eastern. Teammates Jamie Kohn and Broderick Sawyer average 10.9 and 10.6 points per game, respectively. Kohn, a junior, nears double-double figures with his 10.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game average. Kohn has grabbed 250 total rebounds on the season.
As a team, Eastern has lost just four games at home (11-4). In comparison, Regis College is 8-3 on the road.
Regis College continued to be led by senior Derrick Neal into the conference quarterfinal. Although Neal had his lowest total of the season versus the Seahawks, teammate Phil Alibrandi contributed 15 points in the game.
Alibrandi averaged 15.0 points in Regis’ last two games. On the season he averaged 10.5 points per game, and led the program with 150 (5.8 RPG) rebounds.
Neal held the top spot with 13.5 points per game and 2.5 steals per game. Teammates Robert Edwards, Darrin Kelley, and Michael Fernandes contributed through the season to help Regis College reach its first conference postseason.
Edwards collected 120 rebounds, and shot an impressive 12-for-14 from the field against New England College. In the same game he recorded a career-high 28 points. Kelley and Fernandes controlled the Regis offense on the floor. The pair dished 64 and 52 assists, respectively, while shooting better than 45 percent from the field.
The ECAC Mission Statement reads, “The mission of the ECAC shall be to initiate, stimulate and improve intercollegiate athletics programs for student-athletes, and to promote and develop educational leadership, athletics excellence and athletics participation.” Furthermore, the ECAC provides championship opportunities to member conferences and institutions.