Pride Open Catholic Colleges Classic with Win

WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College men's basketball team opened 2020 with a non-conference victory over Rivier 88-64 in the opening game of the Catholic Colleges Classic Thursday afternoon at Higgins Court.

Zak Latifi (Holliston, Mass.) came off the bench for the Pride and went a perfect 7-of-7 from the field including six three-pointers for a career-high 20 points. Marc Trinidad (Bronx, N.Y.) added 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, and Juvens Dalger (Oakland Park, Fla.) scored 15 points and brought down seven boards.

The Pride opened the game scoring the first 10 points before Rivier's Issaiah Chappell put the Raiders on the board with a layup. With 15:09 remaining in the half the Pride went up by 12, but Rivier then went on a 13-1 scoring run to tie the game at 15.

Regis took the lead after a pair of three-pointers by Devante Thompson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) gave the Pride a six-point lead with 8:16 remaining in the half. After a free throw by Trinidad gave Regis the 27-20 edge, Trinidad found Latifi open for a three-point jumper. Nikolas Pignone responded with a three-pointer of his own, but Latifi followed by hitting another three in the following Regis possession.

A pair of free throws by Josh Germain (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Latifi's third three-pointer of the half gave the Pride a 38-26 halftime lead.

Regis started the second half with a 12-2 run giving the Pride a 50-28 advantage with 17:49 remaining in regulation. The Raiders were able to shrink the lead down to 15 with 9:48 left on the clock, but Regis went on another run to extend their lead to as many as 34 before Rivier scored 14 of the final 18 points to close out the game.

Regis (2-8) shot 50 percent from the field while holding their opponents to 34.8 percent from the field. Regis also outrebounded the Raiders, holding a 49-29 edge on the glass.

Rivier (2-8) held the edge in steals 11-7 and were led by Chappell with 15 points in 22 minutes. Pignone added 11 points off the bench for the Raiders.

The Catholic Colleges Classic concludes Friday, Jan. 3, when Saint Joseph's College takes on Rivier at 1 p.m. before Emmanuel faces Regis in the second game of the day, currently scheduled to start at 3 p.m.  In Thursday's second game, the Monks rallied from a 19-point first half deficit to take a six-point lead with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, but the Saints eventually pulled out a 96-91 victory.