WESTON, Mass. – Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) came off the bench to score a career-high 22 points and grab nine rebounds as Regis College defeated Wheelock College, 75-68, on Thursday night in New England Collegiate Conference men's basketball action in Weston, Mass. The Pride improve to 10-7 overall and 5-3 in the NECC, while Wheelock falls to 4-13 and 1-7 in league games.
With their 10th win, the Pride has now posted double-digit victories in seven-straight seasons.
Regis raced out to an early 25-9 lead in the opening nine minutes of the game as Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) scored seven points and Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) poured in six of his own to open the game. Wheelock answered with a 12-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 25-21 with Blake McNamara (Rutland, Mass.) knocking down a pair of deep triples, while Nicholas Fenton (East Hartford, Conn.) and Anthony Williams (White Plains, N.Y.) each added baskets during the run.
Jean-Gilles ended the run with a layup, but the Wildcats continued to fire away as a three-point play from Williams and two more threes from the parking lot by McNamara staked Wheelock to a 30-29 lead with 6:03 to play in the opening half. Back-to-back layups from Fenton nearly four minutes later gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game at 38-33 and forced a Regis timeout.
The Pride fought their way back this time as a three-point play from Leak Jr. followed by a pair of freethrows from Hector Heredia (Lawrence, Mass.) tied the game at 38-all. Leak Jr. knocked down two freethrows to give Regis a 40-38 lead, but Derek Fournier (Johnston, R.I.) connected on Wheelock's sixth three of the opening period to give the Wildcats a 41-40 advantage headed into the break.
Another Fournier three-ball early in the second half staked Wheelock to a 46-42 lead, but two quick put-back layups from Chris Leak Jr. tied the game at 46-all with 17:42 to play in regulation. A pair of Jean-Gilles freethrows gave the Pride a two point lead, and another three-point play from Leak Jr. gave Regis a five point lead.
Williams and Fenton answered with jumpers for the Wildcats to cut it to 51-50, before a Monts triple followed by an Ethan Peana (Staten Island, N.Y.) layup on the fast break staked the Pride to a six point lead. Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) kept it that way at the nine minute mark, and Jeff Tagger Jr. gave the Pride their largest lead of the second half with a three from the corner with 8:08 remaining.
Wheelock continued to chip away, cutting it to four following a Joe Reedy (Orlando, Fla.) jumper, but the two teams started to trade baskets, helping keep the Regis lead from dipping below five. Fournier connected on his third three pointer of the game with 31 seconds remaining to make it a 73-68 game, but a pair of Monts freethrows followed by a strong defensive stand by the Pride on the final possession helped Regis hang on for the 75-68 win.
Regis dominated the glass, winning the rebounding battle 57-28 while grabbing 20 offensive rebounds, which led to 28 second chance points and 44 points in the paint. Wheelock connected on 9-of-25 three point attempts (36%), while the Pride hit only 2-of-11 from deep and could only convert 19-of-32 freethrows.
Jordan Monts joined Leak Jr. in double-figures with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Sam Jean-Gilles posted a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Jeff Tagger Jr. chipped in 10 points to go with seven rebounds, while Ethan Peana had seven points and nine boards.
Wheelock was paced by a near triple-double from Nicholas Fenton who posted 20 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Blake McNamara came off the bench to score 16 points, while Anthony Williams had 13 points. Lawrence Christmas (Garner, N.C.) chipped in eight points and six rebounds.
The Crimson and Gold return to action on Saturday afternoon when they host Daniel Webster College in 1:00 p.m. conference game. Wheelock will host Lesley University on Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m.