BABSON PARK, Mass. - Senior Roger Hamel (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and freshman Juvens Dalger (Oakland Park, Fla.) each scored 16 points, but the Regis (Mass.) men's basketball team dropped a 75-70 decision to Endicott College in the semifinal of the Babson Invitational.
With the loss, the Pride falls to 0-2 on the season, while the Gulls pick up a win in their season opener to move to 1-0.
The Gulls opened the contest on an 11-0 run to jump out to an early lead, but the Pride responded with a three at the 15:45 mark of the half from junior Jordan Seldon (Everett, Mass.). The Pride would battle all the way back as Seldon's three sparked a 13-2 Pride run, tying the game up on a layup from freshman Marc Trinidad (Bronx, N.Y.) with 11:49 left in the first half. The Gulls would jump back out to a lead as large as 12 in the half, but the Pride would close out the half on a 5-0 run thanks to a last-second three-pointer from Hamel to close the score to 36-32 at the break.
The Pride tied the score four times in the second half, but could never jump into the lead in the second half, as the Gulls were able to outlast Regis in their season opener. In the final minute of the ballgame, the Gulls converted five of six free throws to secure the victory.
Endicott sophomore Keith Brown (Pelham, N.H.) was the story of the afternoon, as the guard scored 38 of the Gulls' 75 points in the winning effort. Brown shot 10-for-19 from beyond the arc en route to his 38-point performance.
With the win, the Gulls move to the championship game of the Babson Invitational on Sunday, where they'll face the defending NCAA Champions and the hosts Babson College. The Pride will face Worcester State in the third-place game, who fell to Babson in the other semifinal.
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