WESTON, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) men's basketball scored 54 points in the second half, erasing a four-point halftime deficit to defeat Emmanuel College 86-79 Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at Higgins Court.
With the win, the Pride improves to 12-11 on the season overall, and 9-6 in the GNAC. The Saints fall to 2-21, 1-13 in conference.
The Pride got out to a hot start in the opening minutes of the contest, jumping out to a 17-6 lead just 4:28 in. The Saints quickly erased the deficit, responding with a run of 18-4 over the next six minutes to go on top 25-21. Sophomore Emmett Riddick (Middletown, Conn.) hit a pair of threes and junior Joe Tamburro (South Windsor, Conn.) had one of his own on the run to put the visitors ahead.
The Saints would go up by as much as nine, taking their largest lead at 36-27 with just inside two minutes to play on a basket by Marcus Fox (Danbury, Conn.), put a Pride three from Milik Wallace (Hinesville, Ga.) and a basket from Juvens Dalger (Oakland Park, Fla.) cut the deficit to 36-32 as the teams went to the break.
The teams went back and forth in the opening minutes of the second half, but a technical foul called on the Saints with the team ahead 47-46 and 13:15 showing on the clock ignited a 9-0 Pride run in under two minutes. The Saints, as would prove to be the story of the second half, refused to go away after the run, as triples from Tamburro and Owen Greene (Killington, Conn.) cut the score to 55-53 with 10:21 remaining.
Emmanuel cut the score to as close as 62-61 with 7:45 left on an old-fashioned three-point play from Greene, but threes from Shaun Wingfield (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Roger Hamel (Huntington Beach, Calif.) again helped the Pride pull away to the tune of an 8-2 run to take a 70-63 lead. The Saints couldn't muster another comeback as the game came down the stretch, and strong free throw shooting sealed the deal on an 86-79 Regis victory.
Both teams finished with four players in double figures, led by Emmanuel's Riddick with 20 points. Fox (15), Tamburro (13), and Greene (10) were Emmanuel's other top scorers. Hamel was the Pride's high-point man with 19 on the afternoon, followed by junior Shawn Wedderburn (Bronx, N.Y.) with 14, Wingfield with 11, and Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) with 10.
Next up for the Pride, they'll head on the road for the final time of the regular season for a Tuesday night matchup at Johnson & Wales. The Saints host Norwich University for Senior Night the same evening at Andy Yosinoff Court, with tip-off slated for 7:00 p.m.
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