TAMPA BAY, Fla. – The Regis College men's basketball team nearly overcame a 20 point second half deficit, but fell to Kalamazoo College, 70-66, on Sunday night in the second game of the Tampa Bay Shootout hosted by DePauw University in Tampa Bay, Fla.
The Pride (2-7) will take on Drew University (4-5) at 1:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon at Tampa Prep. Drew fell to host DePauw, 68-64, in the opening game of the Shootout.
Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) scored the opening basket of the game on a tip-in and Ahmad Charles (Cambridge, Mass.) scored on the next Regis possession to give the Pride an early 4-2 lead. Charles connected on a triple with 15:41 to play in the first half to tie the score at 10-10. Kalamazoo answered with a 10-2 run to take a 20-12 lead, but Osanto Marc Jr. (Kissimmee, Fla.) and Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) sparked a quick 4-0 run to make it a four point game with just under seven minutes remaining in the period.
The Hornets later pushed their lead to 12, but a Jean-Gilles layup with less than a minute to play cut it to 10. Kalamazoo would only add a freethrow over the final 50 seconds as Regis entered the break trailing 35-24.
The two teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the second period, as an and-one layup from Marc Jr. cut the Pride deficit to only nine at 38-29. The Hornets rattled off a 12-3 run over the next seven-plus minutes of action before Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) connected on a deep three to end the stretch. Kalamazoo answered the Keaton triple with five straight points and took their largest lead of the game at 55-35 with 9:39 to play.
Regis turned up the defense and a pair of Ryan Chambers (Abington, Mass.) freebies followed by a Keaton layup on the break capped a 13-5 run to make it a 10 point game (58-48) with just over three minutes to play. Chambers and Keaton sandwiched three-pointers around a Kalamazoo freethrow to cut the deficit to eight.
Jean-Gilles and Marc Jr. connected on 3-of-4 freethrows with less than 20 seconds to play, and Keaton added his third three-ball of the game with just a few seconds on the clock, but it was too little too late as the Pride dropped a 70-66 decision.
The Hornets won the rebounding battle, 46-37, but committed 19 turnovers compared to just 11 for the Pride, who only had three missteps in the second half. The difference in the game came at the charity stripe as Kalamazoo connected on 25-of-39 freebies, while the Pride hit 19-of-28 from the line.
Sam Jean-Gilles finished with a team-high 16 points and added nine rebounds in the setback. Ryan Chambers chipped in 15 points and a game-high five steals, while Osanto Marc Jr. and Chris Keaton added 11 points apiece.