Men's Basketball Too Much For Anna Maria In GNAC Opener

WESTON, Mass. – Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) had a game-high 18 points with eight rebounds, Dimitri Rosa (Tiverton, R.I.) finished with 14 points on 4-6 shooting in three pointers and the Regis (Mass.) men's basketball team opened Great Northeast Athletics Conference play with an 82-58 win over Anna Maria College, Tuesday at Higgins Court.

Mike Rapoza (Charlton, Mass.) led the AMCat effort with a double double on 16 points and 10 rebounds, both team highs.

The Pride (3-3, 1-0 GNAC) were hot from the start, opening up an early 12-1 lead highlighted by a one-handed put back from Afonja and a Jordan Seldon (Dorchester, Mass.) elbow three pointer. AMC wouldn't get its first basket until 14:44 left in the half when Rapoza converted on an and-one layup.

The shots would start falling for Anna Maria (2-3, 0-1 GNAC) but the Pride kept it going with its bench play. A pair of Rosa threes and jumpers from Marc Trinidad (Bronx, N.Y.) helped extend the lead to 22-9 with just over 10 minutes to play in the period.

The lead would continue to swell as Afonja capped his impressive half with a driving one-handed dunk to help his team to a 44-25 halftime lead.

The second half started auspiciously for the AMCats who quickly shaved the deficit to 15 points. A Ralph Grasso, Jr. (Marlborough, Mass.) three-pointer followed by a Kenneth Graham (West Haven, Conn.) jumper cut the Pride lead to 47-32 with less than two minutes into the half.

AMC would continue to hang around after sloppy play in the Pride backcourt allowed a pair of fast break layups from Joseph Kwiatkowski (Hudson, N.H.). Regis would settle down though and cruise to the big win.

Regis next visits Albertus Magnus this Saturday, Dec. 2 for a 3:00 p.m. tip off. Anna Maria hosts Bowdoin this Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7:00 p.m.

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