CAMBRIDGE, MA- Lesley University fell to Regis College, 56-54, in a New England Collegiate Conference overtime thriller Saturday afternoon at Nicholas Athletics Center.
The Lynx (3-6, 0-2 NECC) led by as many as 12 with under 13 minutes remaining in the second half, but the Pride fought back to force overtime, where a three-pointer from Lesley's Mike Kaufman rattled in and out just before time expired, securing the road win for Regis (3-3, 1-1 NECC)
In what turned out to be a low scoring game, Lesley took an immediate lead after a strong offensive display in the early going. A Kaufman (Boca Raton, FL/American Heritage) bucket at 14:51 gave Lesley a six point lead, 8-2. Osanto Marc (Kissimee, FL/Poinciana) retaliated with a layup on the ensuing possession, but a John Sanchez (Carson, CA/Saint John Bosco) jumper and a Matt Gibson (Quincy,MA/Lexington Christian) trey put the Lynx back up by 13-4 at the 13:26 mark.
The Pride went on an 11-2 run over the next four minutes, ending with an Ahmad Charles (Cambridge, MA/Cambridge Rindge & Latin) layup at the 9:12 mark to bring the score to 15-15. The Lynx regained the lead after Justin Rosa (East Brunswick,NJ/Marist High) put up five points in a one-minute span, and the lead stretched to eight by the 6:00 mark on a Gibson layup. Lesley was able to hold on to the six point lead, going in up 30-24 at halftime.
After the half the Lynx went up by as much as twelve points with thirteen minutes remaining after a Sanchez jumper from behind the arc. A pair of Jonathan Josselin (Medford,MA/Matignon) free throws and a layup shortly after started a 14-4 Pride rally. Rosa hit a layup to maintain a four-point lead, 46-42, at 2:46.
However, Josselin made a layup with 1:43 remaining to cut the Lynx lead to two. Then with 32 seconds remaining, Marc drove hard to the hoop in converting a layup to force the extra frame.
There were four lead changes in the overtime, all of them early. A Charles three-point play put the Pride ahead 54-49, but Lesley's Kris Bennett (Las Vegas, NV/Durango) answered with an emphatic, two-handed and-one slam, on which he completed the three-point play to make it 54-52. With Lesley trailing by two and coming out of a Donald Morris timeout, Kaufman got a fairly clean look at a 23-footer from the left wing, but it rattled out, allowing Regis escape with the 56-54 victory.
Sanchez tallied 15 points in the loss, the most of all scorers. Rosa scored seven of his 10 points in the first and Bennett pulled down a game-high 10 boards.
Josselin and Ryan Chambers (Abington,MA/Abington) each tallied 11 points in the Pride's victory, and Marc added 10, but no two bigger than his right-handed drive to force overtime.
Regis shot 38 percent from the field, holding Lesley to 32 percent shooting and only 16 points in the second half, allowing the Pride's 12-point comeback. Regis grabbed 47 boards compared to Lesley's 36.
The Pride will take a short winter recess before traveling to Ohio for the Case Western Reserve Tournament. They are set to play John Carroll on December 29th. Lesley breaks for the holidays and will return home on January 7th against Elms College, with tip-off slated for 6:00 p.m.