WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College men's basketball team improved to 9-5 in the New England Collegiate Conference with a 66-49 victory over Newbury College on Saturday afternoon in Weston, Mass. The Pride improves to 10-12 overall, while the Nighthawks drop to 3-21 and 3-12 in league games.
In a pregame ceremony, Regis honored its three seniors in Ryan Chambers (Abington, Mass.), Ahmad Charles (Cambridge, Mass.), and Lewis Smith (Boston, Mass.) for their contributions to Regis College and its athletic department. Chambers scored 17 points in the game, and in the process, became the Pride's all-time leading scorer, surpassing Derrick Neal's mark of 1,260 points.
Chambers gave the Pride an early 4-2 lead with a triple, but the Nighthawks responded with a quick 6-0 spurt - including a three and a layup from David Hart (Keene, N.H.) - to take an 8-4 lead with 15:01 to play. Regis then rattled off a 21-2 run over the next 10-plus minutes of action to take a commanding 25-10 lead with under five minutes remaining. Six different players scored during the stretch, including seven points from Osanto Marc Jr. (Kissimmee, Fla.).
Daniel Thelemaque (Somerville, Mass.) ended the run with a deep three for Newbury, but Marc Jr. connected on a triple of his own and Ahmad Charles hit another three on the next Regis possession to give the Pride a 31-16 lead with 2:20 to play. Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) would add a pair of freethrows in the final seconds of the first half to give Regis a 33-15 advantage headed into the break.
Marc Jr. led all players at the half with 10 points, while Jean-Gilles had eight point and four rebounds. David Hart led Newbury with five points as the Nighthawks only mustered 20% shooting in the opening period.
The Pride came out firing in the second half and built their lead up to as many as 24 points in the early going. With 12:08 remaining in the game, Chambers received a skip pass from Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) and knocked down a deep three that entered the senior captain into the record books as he recorded his 1,261st point, becoming the Pride's all-time leading scorer.
Newbury fought their way back into the contest, using a 10-1 run following the Chambers three to make it a 51-36 contest as Eric Watson (New Rochelle, N.Y.) scored five of the 10 points during the run. A pair of Watson freethrows a minute later kept it a 15 point game, but that would be as close as the Nighthawks would get as Regis fought through the Newbury pressure defense and held on for the 66-49 win.
Regis dominated the glass, outrebounding Newbury at a 47-35 clip, but committed 25 turnovers in the game. The Pride shot 46.9% (23-of-49) from the floor, including a 6-for-13 showing from three, and scored 28 points in the paint. Newbury struggled from the field, going 17-for-63 (27%) and only hit 3-of-23 three point attempts (13%).
Osanto Marc Jr. scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed five rebounds to go with a pair of steals to lead the Pride. Sam Jean-Gilles came off the bench to score 10 points and record eight rebounds, while Ethan Peana (Staten Island, N.Y.) also chipped in eight boards and had four assists. Ahmad Charles had an all-around game with six points, six rebounds, two assists, and three steals.
Newbury was led by Eric Watson's 18 points, eight rebounds, and seven steals. Daivon Edwards (Boston, Mass.) added seven points, while David Hart, Ceejae Carter (Dorchester, Mass.), and Daniel Thelemaque each had five points. Christian Sheridan (Chicago, Ill.) had three assists to go with three blocks and two steals.
The Pride return to action on Tuesday night when Regis hosts its final regular season home game against Wheelock College at 7:00 p.m. Newbury wraps up the 2014 campaign with a 6:00 p.m. home game against Lesley on Thursday night.