BENNINGTON, Vt. – With solid ball control and 23 second-chance points, fifth seeded Regis College went into the Mountaineer Athletic Center Tuesday night and knocked off No. 4 Southern Vermont College, 80-72 in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball First Round playoff.
Pride senior captain Ryan Chambers (Abington, Mass.) recorded a game-high 23 points on the night, with 12 coming from the free throw line, 11 of which were knocked down in the second half. Regis turned the ball over only six times in the win while making the most of its 20 offensive rebounds. The Pride, now with an overall record of 11-12, move on to play at top-seeded Elms College in the NECC Semifinals on Friday.
Southern Vermont saw sophomore captain Antoine White (Germantown, Md.) lead the team with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor, adding a game-best six assists in the effort. The Mountaineers finish the season with a 16-10 mark.
SVC was able to edge RC in field goal percentage with a 42.9 (27-63) clip compared to Regis' 40.3 (25-62), but the Pride converted enough free throws down the stretch to stay ahead and come away with the win. The visitors went 23-for-39 (59.0 percent) from the charity stripe while the Mountaineers managed just a 39.3 percent (11-28) showing at the line.
Regis scored 11 points off of the ten Mountaineer mishaps and out-rebounded SVC, 32-19 in the second half en route to the victory.
Sophomore guard Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) followed Chambers on the Regis side with 15 points, and junior forward Ethan Peana (Staten Island, N.Y.) chipped in with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Ahmad Charles (Cambridge, Mass.) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds while freshman forward Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) had nine points, nine rebounds and three assists off the bench.
Mountaineer freshmen Rayshawn Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.) and Eddie Mack III (Hartford, Conn.) each scored 10 points in the loss, and sophomore forward Dolapo Olugbile (Laurel, Md.) had nine points, six rebounds and four blocks. Junior forward Izzy Melton (Silver Spring, Md.) recorded seven points and a team-best eight boards in reserve minutes.
With the score knotted at 50-50 with 8:54 to play, Regis scored seven unanswered points to take a lead that the Mountaineers would not be able to overcome. An Olugbile layup cut it to 58-53 minutes later, but the Pride responded and started to knock down enough free throws to keep their cushion. They eventually pulled out to a 14-point advantage (68-54) with 2:42 on the clock before the Mountaineers started to put up threes in an effort to get back in it.
SVC sophomore Ervin Cook (Bethesda, Md.) hit a trey late in the game and soon-after added a layup, but Chambers' trips to the line were beneficial as the senior used the freebies to stay ahead on the way to the 80-72 win.
A low-scoring affair in the early going, neither team saw any kind of offensive rhythm through the first 11 minutes of play. With 9:07 left to go in the opening period, Olugbile dished it to White who knocked down a jumper at the top of the key to tie it at 15-15. Chambers tried to respond with a layup but missed, only to grab his own board and get fouled on the put-back for the and-one opportunity; he converted the traditional three-point play for a momentary Pride advantage. After a pair of misses on both ends, White found a wide open Jermaine Campbell (Bridgeport, Conn.) who was spotted up for a game-tying three from the left side.
With 4:28 on the clock in the first, Taylor went strong to the hoop, getting the basket to go while drawing the call. He would hit the free throw to tie things at 24-24, but Regis then began to get its offense clicking.
Keaton first had a put-back for the Pride to regain the lead and then hit a three-pointer to increase their advantage to 29-24. A layup from both Jean-Gilles and freshman Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) put Regis up seven at 35-28 in the waning seconds, but Southern Vt. was able to close out the half with a couple of lay-ins of its own to trim the deficit to 35-32 going into the break.
Keaton didn't take long into the second half to hit a three and put the Pride ahead 38-32, but SVC came back with six unanswered points to tie it once again. With Regis holding a 45-38 lead minutes later, White found himself wide open beyond the arc, took the opportunity and knocked it down to make it 45-41.
But the Pride would not be deterred and continued to connect on their offensive opportunities in a back-and-forth battle, including a three by Chambers off an inbounds pass to go up 55-50 at the 7:17 mark. From there, the free throw shooting was enough for Regis to stay ahead, close out the game and get back to its third NECC Semifinal in as many years.
Tuesday night's other First Round matchup saw No. 3 Becker College defeat sixth-seeded Daniel Webster College, 81-64 on the Hawks' home court. They also travel to Elms Friday night to take on No. 2 Mitchell College in the other semifinal. The Championship will be held at EC on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
Release courtesy of Southern Vermont Sports Information