BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College men's basketball team was able to hold off a late surge by the visiting Regis College Pride Wednesday night for a 62-59 win at the Mountaineer Athletic Center in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action.
SVC used a balanced offense that saw only sophomore captain Antoine White (Germantown, Md.) reach double digits in the points column with 17, adding a game-high six assists and six rebounds to his line. The Pride were led by junior captain Osanto Marc Jr. (Kissimmee, Fla.) who notched a game-best 20 points to go along with seven rebounds, and RC senior captain Ryan Chambers (Abington, Mass.) wasn't far behind with another 17 points and a team-best three assists.
The win improves the season mark for Southern Vermont to 15-9 overall, 9-6 in the conference. Regis drops to 9-12 on the year with the loss, 8-5 in league play.
Making the most of its 18 offensive rebounds, SVC tallied 18 second-chance points to Regis' six. Neither team was overly careless with the ball as RC committed just nine turnovers, two being shot clock violations; Southern Vermont gave it away only 10 times on the night while seeing its bench outscore that of the Pride by a 28-10 margin.
Mountaineer freshman Rayshawn Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.) had eight points off the pine in the win while grabbing six boards and a steal, and sophomore forward Dolapo Olugbile (Laurel, Md.) tabbed a game-high 12 rebounds while dishing out two assists. Freshman big Blair Manners (Auckland, New Zealand) had five points, five rebounds, three blocks and two steals in the effort.
Sophomore guard Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) followed Marc Jr. and Chambers with nine points of his own, adding four rebounds and two blocks in the process. Junior forward Ethan Peana (Staten Island, N.Y.) chipped in with eight points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal.
With 5:23 to play in the game, a Manners jumper gave Southern Vermont a 54-46 lead going down the stretch. Over the next two minutes, however, the Pride scored six unanswered, including a three-ball by Chambers, to cut it to 54-52 as the Mountaineers were hard-pressed to convert on the offensive end. Still up by two (56-54), SVC junior forward Izzy Melton (Silver Spring, Md.) battled inside until he drew the foul that sent him to the free throw line; there, he made two big shots to push the lead back to four.
The Pride would waste little time trying to come back as Marc Jr. took it himself through the paint for a floater, cutting the SVC lead back to two at 58-56 with 46 seconds to play. Following a timeout, Regis fouled Mountaineer freshman Eddie Mack III (Hartford, Conn.), sending him to the charity stripe for the one-and-one. After making the first, Mack missed the backend, only to grab his own rebound. He was again fouled, but subsequently missed the first shot of his bonus opportunity with Regis still down just 59-56. Marc took the rebound and ran the floor, attempting to get the quick basket, but he couldn't get it to go as Manners grabbed the board and drew the foul. After knocking down the first, he missed the second to keep the Pride hope alive.
Monts sprinted up the court and drained a lunging three-pointer, cutting the SVC lead to 60-59 with three seconds to play. Following the final Regis timeout, White was fouled on the inbounds pass and calmly sank both free throws to go back up by three. With .9 seconds on the clock, the Pride tried to inbound the ball down past midcourt, but the visitors could not control the pass for a game-tying attempt as Southern Vermont celebrated its 62-59 victory that splits the season series.
White started the game hot for the Mountaineers, knocking down a floater to give the hosts a quick 2-0 lead. They would never trail the rest of the way as the sophomore continued his first-half tare, scoring the first seven SVC points en route to a period-best 13. With 4:09 to go in the opening frame, White hit a jumper to give Southern Vermont its biggest lead of the evening, a 17-point margin at 31-14. Regis struggled to get its offensive rhythm started, shooting just 15.4 percent from the floor in the first half as the Mountaineers took a 36-20 lead into the locker room. Adversely, SVC went 16-for-32 from field goal range in the stanza.
RC started to chip away early in the second half, first with a layup on the opening possession by Peana. The Pride outscored Southern Vermont 9-2 in the first three minutes of the period to close the lead to 38-29. After Chambers hit one-of-two free throws with 14:03 to play, Mack responded with a trey to keep SVC out ahead 46-35. The two sides then traded baskets through the 5:00 mark before Regis began its run that saw them nearly take the lead, only to be foiled by SVC's 6-for-9 closing at the free throw line.
Both teams now focus on Saturday home contests that will also serve as each school's Senior Day; the Mountaineers host Mitchell College for a 3 p.m. tilt while Regis welcomes Newbury College for a 2 p.m. start.
Release courtesy of Southern Vermont College Sports Information