Regis Men’s Hoop Prevails Over Monks, 79-73

WESTON, Mass. – Five players scored in double figures for Regis College as the Pride held on to defeat Saint Joseph's College, 79-73, Wednesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Higgins Court.

Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) shot 5-of-9 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line to lead the Pride with 17 points, while Marc Trinidad (Bronx, N.Y.) finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Jalil Wilkerson (New Haven, Conn.) hit three three-pointers as he ended up with 15 points, Cameron Wilkins (Taunton, Mass.) contributed 11 points and seven rebounds, and Joshua Perez (Lynn, Mass.) added 10 points to the winning effort.

The Pride scored six straight points over a two-minute span in the first half to open a 13-7 lead, and they would maintain that advantage throughout the rest of the first half as the two teams basically exchanged baskets. Regis would take a 40-32 lead into halftime after a steal and fast-break layup by Trinidad.

Down by 12 two minutes into the second half, Saint Joseph's would put together a 22-1 scoring run over the next six-and-a-half minutes, including a go-ahead three-pointer from Nicholas Curtis and capped by a traditional three-point play by Griffin Foley, to pull ahead, 57-48. The Pride would rally back, scoring seven straight points, punctuated by a three-pointer from Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.), to pull within one at 63-62.

After a three-pointer by Curtis and a layup from Foley, the Pride rattled off a 12-2 scoring run, featuring two three-pointers from Wilkerson and consecutive layups by Perez and Rau, to retake the lead at 74-70 with three minutes remaining in regulation. The Monks closed to within one on a layup by Foley and one made free throw by Teagan Hynes, but Regis scored the final five points to put the game away.

Foley led the Monks with 25 points, while Curtis finished with 21 points and eight rebounds. As a team, Saint Joseph's shot 41.9 percent (26-of-62) from the field, including 10-of-31 from behind the three-point line, and 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the free throw line, plus it won the rebounding battle, 40-33.

The Pride shot 41.7 percent (25-of-60) from the field and 68.8 percent (22-of-32) from the free throw line. Regis committed just 12 turnovers while scoring 23 points off 22 Monk turnovers.

Regis College (3-4, 1-1 GNAC) concludes the 2021 portion of the schedule with a non-conference game against Lesley University Saturday, Dec. 11, starting at 1 p.m. at Higgins Court. Saint Joseph's College (1-8, 0-2 GNAC) heads to Chicopee, Mass., to face Elms College Saturday beginning at 3 p.m.