Pride Men’s Hoop Earns Wire-to-Wire Victory

WESTON, Mass. - Regis College controlled both ends of the floor Tuesday night, receiving contributions from several players on the way to a 92-65 victory over Lesley University in a non-conference men's collegiate basketball game at Higgins Court.

Devante Thompson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) once again led the Pride in scoring, shooting 7-for-10 from the field as he scored 16 points, while Tate Pike (Bellingham, Mass.) went 5-for-6 from the field to finish with 13 points off the bench. Both Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.) and Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) stuffed the stat sheet, as Evelyn collected 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and six steals, and Rau contributed 10 points, a game-high nine rebounds, and six blocked shots, tying the Pride's single-game blocks record.

Regis scored the first six points of the contest and never relinquished the lead, extending its advantage to 24-10 midway through the first half thanks to a 13-2 scoring run started by a three-pointer from Zakaria Latifi (Holliston, Mass.). Lesley rattled off seven unanswered points on a three-pointer by DJ Alexander and consecutive baskets from Malachi Howard, but the Pride responded with a 9-2 scoring run featuring three-pointers by Pike and Gehrig Brynda (Deerfield, Mass.) wrapped around a traditional three-point play from Rau.

After the Pride established a 13-point lead at 42-29 with another three-pointer from Brynda, the Lynx scored the next seven points late in the first half, capped by a three-pointer from Tarell Joseph, but Pike hit a layup in the final minute to give Regis a 44-36 halftime advantage. Lesley's Christian Castro opened the second half scoring with a layup, but the Pride extended their lead into double figures on consecutive three-pointers by Joshua Perez (Lynn, Mass.), Latifi, and Evelyn.

Lesley (0-7) once again fought back with 10 unanswered points, starting with back-to-back three-pointers by Scott Barlow and Jelanie Morgan and capped by consecutive baskets from Morgan and Hezekiah Brown to close within five points at 53-48. The Pride finally produced a comfortable margin thanks to a 15-2 scoring run over a four-minute span, and several Regis newcomers were able to see their first collegiate action down the stretch.

For the second straight game, Regis made over 50 percent of its field goal attempts, going 37-for-68 (54.4 percent), the second-most made field goals in a game in program history. The Pride made 11-of-27 attempts (40.7 percent) from behind the three-point line and set a single-game record with 11 blocked shots as a team, plus they scored 19 points off 18 Lesley turnovers.

Howard led the Lynx with 19 points, eight rebounds, and two blocked shots, while Barlow finished with 10 points and Brown added five points, six rebounds, six assists, and two steals. As a team, Lesley shot 32 percent (24-for-75) from the field, including 10-for-28 from behind the three-point line, but the Lynx did win the rebounding battle, 43-40, including 17 offensive boards that led to 23 second chance points.

Regis (4-2) opens Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a home game against Elms College Saturday, Dec. 3, starting at 3 p.m. at Higgins Court. It will be the last home game for the Pride before Winter Break.