WESTON, Mass. – Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored 24 points, while fellow senior Shawn Wedderburn (Bronx, N.Y.) tied his season high with 18 points, as the Regis College men's basketball team outdueled Rivier on Senior Day in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tilt at Higgins Court early Saturday afternoon, 101-69.
To go with his team-high 24 points, Afonja collected a game-high 11 rebounds, four of which were on the offensive glass. Junior Dimitri Rosa (Tiverton, R.I.) hit six of his eight shots from three-point range and was able to collect 18 points of his own in the victory. Coming off the bench, Juvens Dalger (Oakland Park, Fla.) protected the rim with three blocks in the game, and Devante Thompson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) also came up big defensively by taking away possessions from the Raiders, collecting three steals.
The first points of the matchup would come 19 seconds into the game when Afonja, off a pass from Wedderburn, pulled up and made his first jumper of the game. Another Afonja layup would give the Pride a four-point lead before Tyler Bradanese responded for the Raiders. Milik Wallace (Hinesville, Ga.) would find space to connect on a three-pointer, and it would be quickly followed up with Rosa sinking one of his own after an offensive rebound by Afonja gave the Pride a second chance.
With the Pride maintaining a 10-point lead eight minutes into the game, Rivier would then find the basket with a three-pointer from Issaiah Chappell, sparking a 7-2 run that allowed the Raiders to pull within five. With the score 34-26 in favor of the Pride, Afonja made his way through traffic to finish a layup and give the Pride another double-digit lead. The Pride would take a 58-47 lead into the halftime break.
The Pride wouldn't waver in the second half, continuing to put points on the board as they went on to earn the 32-point victory. The Pride finished two points off the school record for points in a game set earlier this season. The Pride have now scored 90 or more points in a game four times in the 2018-19 campaign.
Rivier would finish with two players in double figure scoring, Chappell scored 32 and Jalen Watson would end the game with 12. Rivier (1-20, 0-9 GNAC) will play host to Wentworth on Tuesday, Feb. 5.
Before the game, seniors Afonja, Jordan Seldon (Dorchester, Mass.), Wallace, Wedderburn, and Isaiah Wilson (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) were honored in Senior Day ceremonies.
Regis (9-13, 4-4 GNAC) will play next on Tuesday, Feb. 5, when they go to Paxton, Mass. to take on Anna Maria. They will then host the Monks of Saint Joseph's Tuesday, Feb. 12, to close out their home slate of regular season games. The following Saturday, Feb. 16, they will conclude the regular season when they go to University of St. Joseph.