Men’s Hoop Breaks Through with First Win of Season

GORHAM, Maine – Five players scored in double figures for Regis College as the Pride pulled away in the second half for a 76-53 victory over Maine-Presque Isle Saturday afternoon in the consolation game of the USM Tip-Off Tournament, hosted by University of Southern Maine at Hill Gymnasium.

Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.) and Tate Pike (Bellingham, Mass.) tied for the team scoring lead with 17 points apiece. Thomas Ahlstrom (San Antonio, Texas) notched his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Cameron Wilkins (Taunton, Mass.) nearly earned his second straight double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds and Jalil Wilkerson (New Haven, Conn.) contributed 10 points.

The Pride raced out to a 12-2 lead five minutes into the game, capped by a traditional three-point play from Wilkins. The Owls worked their way back into the contest, trailing 14-12 after an 8-0 scoring run over a three-minute span, punctuated by a three-pointer from Brice Lawrence.

Ahead by four at halftime, Regis started the second half with seven unanswered points, including a three-point play from Ahlstrom. UMPI closed to within six points at 48-42 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the second half, but Pike hit a three-pointer to start a 10-1 Pride scoring run, and then Regis closed out the game with a 16-4 scoring stretch over the final five-and-a-half minutes.

Parker Onorato led UMPI with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Gilber Jean finished with 11 points and five rebounds. As a team, the Owls were held to 30.5 percent (18-of-59) field goal shooting, plus they hit 66.7 percent (12-of-18) of their free throw attempts.

For the game, Regis shot 45.5 percent (30-of-66) from the field and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the free throw line, plus the Pride won the rebounding battle, 47-34. In addition, Regis committed only 13 turnovers while scoring 15 points off 17 Owl turnovers.

Regis College (1-2) plays its first conference game of the year Wednesday, Nov. 17, at Emmanuel College beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Pride will then host their first regular season home game next Saturday, Nov. 20, against Rhode Island College starting at 1 p.m. at Higgins Court.