SALEM, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) men's basketball team returned for its first action in nearly a month, falling 75-68 to host Salem State in the Salem State Holiday Classic, Thursday at Twohig Gymnasium. Jaiwon Martin (Coral Springs, Fla.) nearly recorded a double double with 10 points and nine rebounds, pacing five Regis players in double figures.
Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Jordan Seldon (Everett, Mass.) both had 13 points off the bench to lead the Pride who slipped to 3-5 on the season. Afonja also shot a team best 50% (6-12) from the field while adding seven rebounds.
Shaquan Murray (Boston, Mass.) scored a game-high 23 points (8-21) for Salem State (4-4) while shooting 4-6 from beyond the arc. Marcus Faison (Cambridge, Mass.) posted a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Regis trailed by 12 points with 5:43 to play in the game before storming back and nearly rallying for the the win. Martin's layup sparked an 8-1 run to shave the lead to 66-61 with 3:25 to play. He later connected on a three pointer and Seldon hit a pair of free throws to shave the Viking lead to just two points with exactly one minute to play. That would be as close as the Pride would get, however, as Salem State hit all six of its free throws down the stretch to seal the seven-point win.
The Pride stormed out of the gate with an 8-2 run. Shawn Wingfield's (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) layup and three pointer helped his team to the early lead. Seldon's bucket extended the advantage to 15-3 as Regis kept up the pace for much of the first half. The Vikings finished the half on a tear though, running off 16 straight points to take their first lead at 24-23. Martin's layup broke a 6:27 scoring drought and Julio Galay's (Bronx, N.Y.) layup to close the half gave the Pride a one-point lead at the break.
Regis led by as many as five points in the second half but a 12-2 run lifted Salem State to a double-digit lead with 7:30 to play.
Regis returns to action on Friday against Endicott for the second and final day of the Classic. The Pride and Gulls tip off at 5:00 p.m. with Salem State hosting Southern Maine at 7:00 p.m.
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