WESTON, Mass. – The Lesley University men's basketball team suffered a 74-57 setback to Regis College in New England Collegiate Conference action tonight at Higgins Court. The Pride used a balanced offensive attack that saw nine different players register points as the hosts snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 5-12 overall and 2-6 in conference affairs. The loss drops the Lynx to 4-15 on the season in 3-7 in the NECC standings.
The hosts opened up the matchup fast as they tallied the first seven points of the game, but the Lynx would respond by cutting the Pride lead to three points multiple times during the next ten minutes of play. Junior guard Devon Mayo (Newport News, Va.) made two freebies with 13:15 to go which cut the deficit to three. Regis senior Chris Keaton (Beverly, Mass.) answered with a three-ball from the top of the point off a screen to put the Pride back up two possessions and on the next trip down the floor Mayo converted an old fashioned three-point play to bring the Regis advantage back down to three once again.
Both teams traded buckets over the next few minutes of play before Regis went on a 9-2 run over the final four minutes of the half to take a 10 point lead into halftime. The Pride's frontcourt pairing of Sam Jean-Gilles (Melrose, Mass.) and Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) provided all the offense during this run as Jean-Gilles had five points, three of them coming on an and-one and Leak Jr. added two buckets underneath for a 33-23 lead at halftime.
Lesley threatened early in the second half, cutting the Regis lead to single-digits. Junior Pierre St. Simon (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and senior Chris Barletta (Valrico, Fla.) each tallied layups to cut the Pride lead to six only a minute into the second stanza. Pride junior Jeff Tagger Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) would answer from beyond the arc with a three-pointer to put the hosts lead back up to nine, 36-27.
On Lesley's next possession, Barletta went down the floor possession and connected on a three of his own off a designed inbounds play to bring the deficit back down to six. On their next offensive possession, Tagger Jr. would swing momentum back in Regis' favor as he netted a bucket from deep to put Regis back up nine, 39-30 with 18:01 to go.
Later in the half a pair of free throws by freshman William Cuffee (Amherst, Mass.) cut the Lynx deficit down to eight, 46-38, but the Pride would take control with a 14-5 run before building a lead as big as 26 in the waning minutes of the match to secure the win.
Tagger Jr. chalked up nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks to power the Pride attack. Leak Jr. tallied a team-high 13 points, freshman Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) and junior Jean-Gilles both came off the bench to score 11 points apiece.
Mayo led all scorers with 19 points, with a big chunk of his output coming from the free throw line where he converted 9-of-12 attempts. Barletta added 15 points and two boards while junior Terrell Toney (Lakewood, Wash.) scored 10 points, dished out four assists and corralled three rebounds.
The Lynx will return to the hardwood on Saturday when they travel to Southern Vermont College at 3:00p while the Pride will head to Wheelock College for a tilt with the Wildcats at 8:30p.