WESTON, Mass. – Regis College captured the 2015 Coaches vs. Cancer Greater Boston Shootout Championship with a 67-65 victory over Emerson College on Saturday night in Weston, Mass. The Pride improve to 2-0 on the year, while the Lions drop to 1-1.
This marks the second-straight year the Pride have captured the first tournament of the season after defeating Emerson in last season's Greater Boston Classic Championship game held at Emmanuel. Jeff Tagger Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.). Emerson had a pair of players named to the All-Tournament Team in Austin Pinckney (Miami, Fla.) and Tyson Hallowell (Lincoln, Mass.). Wentworth's Kyle Romich (Groton, Mass.) and Emmanuel's Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) rounded out the All-Tournament selections.
Emerson came out firing and opened the game on a 10-2 run capped off by a Michael Sheng (Altadena, Calif.) three-pointer at the 16:23 mark. The Pride responded with a 19-0 run over the next six minutes of action to take a 21-12 lead. Regis did most of their damage from beyond the arc as Hector Heredia and Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) each buried triples, while Jamal Rene (Methuen, Mass.) added two of his own.
The Lions chipped away and back-to-back threes from Michael Thorpe (Newton, Mass.) and Sheng made it a 23-20 game and forced a Regis timeout with 5:37 to play. Regis used another run – this time a 9-0 stretch capped off by a Tagger Jr. triple – to jump out by 12, and Hector Heredia connected on a runner just before time expired on the half to give the Pride a 37-27 lead headed into the break.
Out of the half, the Pride stretched their lead to as many as 18 as a nice backdoor finish from Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) on a feed from Jean-Gilles put the Pride on top 49-31 with 17:08 to play in the second half. A quick 9-0 run from the Lions cut the deficit to only 49-40, and Tyson Hallowell connected on a three to make it a 54-48 game with 11:27 to play.
Regis slowly built their lead back up to 14 on a three-point play from Adem Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.), but Emerson continued to chip away and baskets from Pinckney and Hallowell kept Emerson within five at 64-59 headed into the final minute of play.
Emerson was forced to foul, and the Pride went 1-for-2 at the line before Hallowell raced down the floor for a layup to make it a 65-61 game. The Pride turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play, and Hallowell struck again for a wide open layup to make it a 65-63 game.
Regis missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 opportunity and Emerson regained possession looking for the tie. A Pride foul gave the Lions a chance to tie the game with 16 seconds left in the game, but Emerson only came away with one of the two as Jaiwon Martin (Coral Springs, Fla.) corralled the rebound and was fouled. The junior stepped to the line and hit both free throws to put Regis on top 67-64 with under five seconds remaining.
The Lions inbounded the ball and flew down the floor, where Hallowell was smartly fouled by Heredia before he could get a shot off. Hallowell hit the first free throw and missed the second on purpose, leading to a high-bouncing rebound right in front of the rim. The Pride's Jaiwon Martin leapt into the air and swatted the ball back to midcourt as time ran out on the clock and the Pride held on for the 67-65 victory.
Regis won the rebounding battle 36-30, while committing 18 turnovers to just 16 for the Lions. Both teams were efficient from the field as Regis shot 45.1% (23-of-51) on the night, with Emerson shooting at a 42.4% (25-of-59) clip.
Hector Heredia and Sam Jean-Gilles led the Pride scoring attack with 13 points apiece. Jean-Gilles grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Heredia had four rebounds and three assists. Jeff Tagger Jr. chipped in seven points, four rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Jaiwon Martin came off the bench for seven points and five rebounds.
The Lions were paced by a game-high 18 points from Tyson Hallowell. Michael Thorpe added 17 points, while Austin Pinckney just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Michael Sheng scored six points and handed out a team-high four assists to go with a pair of steals.
The Crimson and Gold return to action on Tuesday night when the Pride travels to Colby-Sawyer College for a non-league tilt scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Emerson travels to Bryant University on Wednesday night for a 7:00 p.m. matchup with the Bulldogs.