Regis Men’s Hoop Drops GNAC Contest to Falcons

WESTON, Mass. – Regis College could not overcome the offensive prowess of Albertus Magnus College, as the Falcons defeated the Pride, 79-65, Thursday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Higgins Court.

Jalil Wilkerson (New Haven, Conn.) led the Pride with 13 points and four steals, while Marc Trinidad (Bronx, N.Y.) was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line as he scored 10 points. Zakaria Latifi (Holliston, Mass.) hit three long distance shots for nine points, Cameron Wilkins (Taunton, Mass.) and Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.) scored eight points apiece, and Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) contributed seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Albertus Magnus grabbed the lead in the first minute on a jumper by Terry Dawkins and a three-pointer from Davon Warner. Regis went on a 7-2 scoring run, capped by a three-pointer from Rau, to tie the game at 11-11, but the Falcons took the lead for good on two free throws by Isaiah Lewis and a layup from Warner five minutes into the game.

The Falcons extended their advantage to 16 points at 31-15 thanks to a 16-2 scoring run midway through the first half, led by three three-pointers from Warner. Albertus Magnus would go up by as much as 18 points in the first half and take a 44-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Down by 12 in the second half, Regis would cut its deficit to seven on a three-pointer from Latifi and a layup by Thomas Ahlstrom (San Antonio, Texas). The Falcons scored nine unanswered points over a three-minute span to increase their lead back to 16 points, and then they would put the game away with a 10-2 scoring run to establish their largest lead of the night at 74-52 with five minutes left in the second half.

Warner led all player with 19 points, while Justice Washington finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Dawkins contributed 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals as the Falcons shot 46.2 percent (30-for-65) from the field and 57.9 percent (11-for-19) from the free throw line.

As a team, the Pride shot 40 percent (24-for-60) from the field, plus they made all 12 free throw attempts. Albertus Magnus won the rebounding battle, 42-31, including 18 offensive rebounds leading to 16 second chance points. The Falcons also scored 23 points off 18 Regis turnovers.

Regis College (8-9, 5-6 GNAC) begins a stretch of four games in six days with a conference matchup at Dean College Saturday, Feb. 5, starting at 3 p.m. Albertus Magnus (11-4, 9-1 GNAC) travels to face University of Saint Joseph in a battle of the top two teams in the league Saturday, also beginning at 3 p.m.