Men's Basketball Overcomes 17-Point Deficit to Win Third Straight

WESTON, Mass. - Regis College overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat Johnson & Wales University, 74-71, holding the Wildcats to just 23 second-half points Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action at Higgins Court.

Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) led the Pride with 21 points and 14 rebounds while Devante Thompson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Zakaria Latifi (Holliston, Mass.) both finished with 13. Jamir Harvey (Robbins, Ill.) contributed 10 points coming off the bench, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

Trailing by 16 at the start of the second half, Rau started the comeback with a pair of early layups followed by a three-pointer by Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.) and a layup by Thompson to put the Pride within 11 (52-41) with just over 15 minutes left in regulation. A three by Rau and a driving layup by Latifi cut the Wildcat lead to nine, but a three-pointer by Josh Zangerle and a layup by Aireus Raspberry put the visitors back up by 14 (64-50) with just under nine minutes remaining.

A pair of made free throws and a layup by Cameron Wilkins (Taunton, Mass.) kicked off a 10-point scoring run for the home team as Harvey capped off the run with a pair of free throws and a layup of his own to put Regis within three (64-61). Another score by Rau followed by a Latifi three tied the score at 66 with just over three minutes remaining in regulation. Harvey extended the Pride lead with a layup and a couple more free throws to give Regis some breathing room and put the game out of reach for the Wildcats.

JWU, which shot 57.6 percent in the first half, shot just 29.6 percent in the second, committing eight turnovers over the final 20 minutes. Raspberry led all players with 15 points in the first half which saw the Pride connect on just 32 percent of their field goal attempts.

Raspberry led all scorers with 29 points, plus he collected nine rebounds and six assists. Zangerle was another major contributor for the Wildcats, finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds while Jontai Williams added 11 points.

Regis managed to outrebound Johnson & Wales by a margin of 42-38 while scoring 36 points in the paint compared to 24 for the visitors. The Pride played a clean game, committing just six turnovers compared to 11 for the Wildcats.

Marc Trinidad was honored at halftime for his contributions to the Regis College men's basketball program, becoming the sixth player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark during the 2021-2022 season.

Regis College (10-9, 6-6 GNAC) hosts Anna Maria on Thursday, Feb. 2, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Johnson and Wales returns home on Tuesday, Jan. 31, to host Dean College at 7:30 p.m.