Men’s Basketball Secures Home Tourney Game with Saturday Win

NEW LONDON, N.H. – Marc Trinidad (Bronx, N.Y.) produced a career-high scoring performance and Jalil Wilkerson (New Haven, Conn.) broke the Regis single-season steals record as the Pride defeated Colby-Sawyer College, 75-62, Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Coffin Field House.

With the victory, the Pride finished in seventh place in the GNAC regular season standings with a 9-9 league record, securing a home game in the first round of the 2022 GNAC Men's Basketball Tournament.

Trinidad shot 12-for-18 from the field as he finished with 27 points, two more than his point total against Norwich earlier this season. He also finished with eight rebounds and four blocked shots. With four steals Saturday, Wilkerson now has 66 steals this season, breaking the previous single-season record of 64 steals set by Carlos Bermudez in the 2012-13 season.

Trinidad scored the first four points of the game, and Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) and Cameron Wilkins (Taunton, Mass.) followed with baskets as the Pride took an 8-0 lead before the Chargers answered with a three-pointer from Kevin Cummings and a layup by Conor Kelly. After back-to-back baskets by Rau and Trinidad, Colby-Sawyer scored seven unanswered points to tie the game at 12-12.

After the teams traded points for a while, two made free throws each by Rau and Wilkerson as well as a three-pointer from Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.) put the Pride back on top, 32-27. In the final minute of the first half Scott Lampron hit a three-pointer and Zack Caraballo made a layup to pull the Chargers into a 32-32 tie at halftime.

Trinidad put the Pride ahead for good early in the second half with two made free throws and a layup, and then Regis gradually extended its advantage, putting together a 14-5 scoring run that was capped by a three-pointer from Zakaria Latifi (Holliston, Mass.) and a layup by Trinidad. The Chargers closed to within seven at 62-55 on a three-pointer by Cummings, but the Pride put the game away with an 11-4 scoring run late in regulation.

In total, four players scored in double figures for the Pride, as Evelyn finished with 14 points, Latifi contributed 11 points off the bench, and Wilkerson added 10 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Rau nearly notched a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds as Regis won the rebounding battle, 40-36.

Colby-Sawyer (9-14, 6-11 GNAC) was led by Cummings with 16 points and Lampron with 11 points. As a team, the Chargers shot 41.5 percent (22-for-53) from the field, including 7-for-18 from behind the three-point line, and 78.6 percent (11-for-14) from the free throw line.

The Pride shot 42.6 percent (29-for-68) from the field and 70.6 percent (12-for-17) from the free throw line, plus they committed just 10 turnovers while scoring 24 points off 17 Charger turnovers.

Regis College (12-12, 9-9 GNAC) will again face Colby-Sawyer, this time in the first round of the GNAC Tournament Tuesday, Feb. 22, starting at 7 p.m. at Higgins Court.