WESTON, Mass. – Regis College rallied from a 10 point second half deficit to slip by Becker College, 59-56, in a New England Collegiate Conference men's basketball game on Tuesday night in Weston, Mass. The Pride have now won three-straight to improve to 12-7 overall and 7-3 in the NECC, while the Hawks fall to 9-9 and 4-5 in league games.
Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) connected on a three pointer to tie the game at 49 with 19 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime, capping off a 10-0 run in the final 6:13 of action. After falling behind early in the extra frame, Regis rallied from a four point hole to hang on for the 59-56 victory.
Regis and Becker traded blows early until buckets from Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) and Ethan Peana (Staten Island, N.Y.) gave the Pride an 8-4 lead with 15:26 to play. The Hawks responded quickly, rattling off a 6-0 run capped off by a three-point play from Kyle Credle (Queens, N.Y.) that put Becker on top 10-8. Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) connected on a triple, giving the Pride back the advantage at 11-10, but Khairi Mosley (Elizabeth, N.J.) buried a jumper from the top of the key that put Becker back in front.
The two teams continued to go back-and-forth as a layup from Peana on the break gave Regis a 21-20 lead with 5:02 to play. Donovin Ford-Hayes (Windsor Locks, Conn.) answered with a three-ball to go up 23-21, and a jumper from David Maturah (Windsor Locks, Conn.) gave the Hawks a five point advantage at 28-23 with 2:49 to play. Jeff Tagger Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) would score the final points of the period for Regis as Maturah added two more buckets - including a monster dunk - that put the visitors on top 32-25 headed into the break.
Out of the half, Becker quickly built a 10 point lead following back-to-back thunderous dunks from Maturah and Scott Dulaire (Bloomfield, Conn.). The Pride battled back into the game as another Keaton three-ball and a pair of Jean-Gilles freebies made it a 41-38 game with 10:30 to play. Becker answered with a 7-0 run as Jessy Michaud (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Maturah scored all the points during the stretch to put Becker back on top by 10.
Still trailing by 10 with 6:13 remaining in the period, the Pride made their move as a freethrow and later a layup from Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) cut the deficit to 49-42 and forced a Hawks timeout. After the teams traded misses, Leak Jr. knocked down a jumper from the right block to make it a 49-44 ball game with just under four minutes to play.
Jean-Gilles made it a one possession game with a layup at the 2:22 mark of regulation. Both teams searched for another basket, but neither could find the bottom of the net for the next two minutes of game play.
Following a stop for the Pride, Regis came down on offense with under 30 seconds remaining. Monts drove from the top of the key and kicked out to Sam Jean-Gilles beyond the arc and the sophomore buried the game-tying triple to tie the game at 49-49. Donovin Ford-Hayes had a shot to win the game, but the Pride got a hand in his face and forced the shot short, sending the game into overtime.
Michaud and Dulaire scored the first two baskets of the extra frame to give Becker a 53-49 lead. A runner from Tagger Jr. cut the deficit in half, and a pair of Monts freethrows tied the game at 53-all with 2:53 to play in overtime. Ethan Peana gave the Pride a one point cushion going 1-for-2 at the charity stripe on the next Regis possession. Following another Regis defensive stand, Jordan Monts knocked down a triple in the same spot as Jean-Gilles to give Regis a 57-53 advantage with 1:17 remaining.
Reginald Finney (Ansonia, Conn.) connected on a layup to make it a 57-55 game with 1:05 to play, and the Hawks forced a turnover on the next Regis possession to get a chance to tie the game. Maturah was fouled going up for a shot, but only connected on 1-of-2 freethrows, and Regis remained in front 57-56, with 28 seconds remaining.
After the Pride worked some time off the clock, Jeff Tagger Jr. knocked down a pair of freethrows to give Regis a three point advantage with 14 seconds left. Jessy Michaud had a chance to tie the game with a few seconds left, but Leak Jr. forced the shot off line as the ball caromed off the back rim and time expired on the game, 59-56 in favor of the home team.
Regis won the rebounding battle, 50-30, but committed 20 turnovers to just 11 for Becker. Regis grabbed 15 offensive rebounds leading to 15 second chance points. After Becker shot 54.2% from the floor in the opening half, the Regis defense allowed only 28.6% shooting the rest of the game to hang on for the win.
Sam Jean-Gilles finished with a game-high 17 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists, a block, and a pair of steals. Jeff Tagger Jr. joined him in double-figures with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Ethan Peana and Jordan Monts combined for 14 points (seven points each) and 13 rebounds. Chris Leak Jr. came off the bench to grab a game-high 11 rebounds.
Becker was paced by Kyle Credle and David Maturah, who scored 15 points apiece. Jessy Michaud chipped in eight points and five assists off the bench, while Scott Dulaire had seven points and five rebounds. Reginald Finney finished with a team-high six rebounds in the setback.
Both teams are back in NECC action on Thursday night as Regis travels to Mitchell College for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with the Mariners. Becker will host Elms College in an 8:00 p.m. tilt.