CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Regis College held on late to defeat Lesley University 55-51 tonight in New England Collegiate Conference action at the Nicholas Athletic Center. The win improves the Pride to 15-7 on the year and 10-3 in NECC play while the Lynx fall to 2-19 overall and 2-10 in the conference.
Both teams started off slow from the field but the Pride built up a 19-4 lead over the opening 8:11 of the first half. Regis junior Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) capped the run as he knocked down a pair from beyond the arc as the Pride built their biggest lead of the game.
Lesley's defense would then clamp down as they held Regis to just one field goal over the final 11:49 of play in the first. The offense followed suit as they outscored their guests 18-5 to pull within two, 24-22, at the break. Lesley senior Justin Rosa (East Brunswick, N.J.) paced the Lynx as he scored nine of the final 11 points for Lynx before the end of the half.
The second half was back-and-forth as the teams exchanged the lead 12 times over the final twenty minutes. Rosa gave the Lynx their first advantage of the night right out of the break with a triple from the wing before sophomore Jacob DiDomenico (N. Providence, R.I.) hit a jumper to extend the Lesley edge to three, 27-24.
Later in the half with 7:44 left on the clock, Regis junior Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) connected for two to give to Pride a one-point advantage before Rosa hit on his third three-pointer of the night to reclaim a 42-40 edge for the hosts.
The Pride would answer right back as a trey from junior Jeff Tagger Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) sparked a 9-2 run over the next 3:07 as they pushed their lead to five and held on the rest of the way for the 55-51 victory.
Tagger Jr. led the Pride with 13 points, seven rebounds, and four steals while sophomore Sean Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) and Ethan Peana (Staten Island, N.Y.) combined for 18 points and 13 rebounds. Keaton finished with nine points, eight of which came in the opening half, and junior Hector Heredia (Lawrence, Mass.) added five points, two steals, two blocks, and two boards.
Rosa paced the Lynx with a game-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting while adding five boards and four assists on the night. DiDomenico registered his third double-double of the season with 11 points and ten rebounds while also blocking a career-best six shots. Sophomore Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Wash.) also finished in double-figures for the Lynx, dumping in 11, and junior Chris Barletta (Valrico, Fla.) finished with six points and three assists.
The Lynx will be back in action on Friday, February 13th as they play host to Elms College at 8:00p while the Pride will travel to Chicopee, Mass. for a tilt with the Blazers on Saturday at 3:00p.