Pride Men’s Hoop Starts GNAC Tourney Play Tuesday

WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College men's basketball team enters the 2020 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament with a daunting task, as the eighth seeded Pride face top seed University of Saint Joseph in a quarterfinal matchup Tuesday, Feb. 25, starting at 7 p.m. at the O'Connell Center in West Hartford, Conn.

Regis split its last two regular season games last week, first holding on to defeat Colby-Sawyer College, 68-66, last Tuesday in the final home game of the year. Despite losing to Suffolk University on the last day of the regular season Saturday, the Pride still finished in a tie for eighth place in the GNAC standings and gained the eighth seed in the tournament by virtue of their wins over the Chargers and Johnson & Wales Jan. 11.

As a team, the Pride are averaging 76.0 points per game as they are shooting 43.2 percent from the field, including 34.6 percent from behind the three-point line, and 59.7 percent from the free throw line. Regis has grabbed 36.4 rebounds per game, dished out 14.1 assists per contest, blocked 2.7 shots per game, and collected 8.0 steals per game.

Individually, three players are averaging in double figures for the Pride, led by junior Marc Trinidad (Bronx, N.Y.) at 15.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Devante Thompson (Four Lauderdale, Fla.) is averaging 12.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game, and Juvens Dalger (Oakland Park, Fla.) is contributing 12.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game.

Senior Dimitri Rosa (Tiverton, R.I.) is the team's top long distance shooter, as he has hit 43.8 percent (63-of-144) of his three-point attempts. Cam Wilkins (Taunton, Mass.) has been one of the top newcomers in the conference, earning GNAC Rookie of the Week honors three times this season as he is averaging 9.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, thanks in part to shooting 60.4 percent from the field.

University of Saint Joseph won all 11 conference games as part of a 23-2 overall record, currently carrying the fourth-longest winning streak in all of NCAA college basketball at 22 games into the tournament. The Blue Jays led Division III in scoring margin at 19.9 points per game, are third in field goal percentage at 51.6 percent, and ninth in scoring offense at 90.1 points per game.

Delshawn Jackson Jr. leads USJ in scoring at 21.0 points per game, while Jordan Powell leads Division III in field goal percentage at 71.0 percent as he is averaging 15.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Jaecee Martin, a transfer from Sacred Heart University, is averaging 14.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game, Taelon Martin is scoring 11.1 points per game, and Ryan O'Neill is contributing 10.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest.

These two teams met just two weeks ago at Higgins Court, with the Pride staying with the Blue Jays through the first half before USJ broke away after halftime for a 91-73 victory Feb. 12. Jackson led the Blue Jays with 23 points, including five three-pointers, while Taelon Martin (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Jaecee Martin (11 points, 12 assists) both notched double-doubles. Dalger tied the Regis single-game record with eight made three-pointers as he finished with 28 points and eight rebounds.

The winner of the Blue Jay-Pride game will advance to the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament Thursday, Feb. 27, and take on the winner of the quarterfinal between fifth seed Saint Joseph's College and fourth seed Anna Maria. On the other side of the bracket, second seed Albertus Magnus hosts seventh seed Suffolk in a quarterfinal, while sixth seed Lasell heads into Boston to take on third seed Emmanuel.

The highest remaining seed will host the GNAC Men's Basketball Tournament championship game Saturday, Feb. 29. The 2020 GNAC champion will earn the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Tournament, with the complete field announcement scheduled for Monday, March 3 at 12:30 p.m.