MBB Hangs On at Regis
WESTON, Mass. – Regis College nearly overcame a 14-point second half deficit but dropped an 84-81 decision to Mitchell College on Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's basketball action.
The win was the sixth in a row for the Mariners, who were led by junior Parris Hill's 27 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Frank Martin added 17 points, including four three-pointers, while senior Joshua Ford had a double-double of 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Senior Anthony Epps was the final player in double figures for Mitchell (8-3 overall, 5-0 NECC) with 10 points and a pair of steals.
The Pride's Osanto Marc Jr. poured in a career-high 26 points and added seven rebounds in the setback. The Pride fell to 3-8 overall and 2-2 in the NECC.
Sam Jean-Gilles struck first for the Pride to open the game, but Mitchell grabbed a 13-4 lead early in the first half on a pair of Martin free throws. Regis answered with a quick 7-0 spurt on baskets from Jordan Monts and four points from Marc Jr. The teams traded baskets before Jean-Gilles and Ryan Chambers connected on back-to-back jumpers to tie the game at 17-17.
At the 10:16 mark, Chambers hit the only three of the half for the Pride to stake Regis to a 20-19 lead. Hill answered at the other end with a three-point play to put Mitchell back on top 22-20, and the Mariners led 23-21 with 9:10 to play on a Marcus Vereen free throw.
Ahmad Charles tied the game on the next possession and Marc Jr. gave the Pride their third lead of the game, 25-23, at the eight minute mark, but Mitchell responded with the next five points to go back up by three. Chambers cut the deficit to 35-34 minutes later, but Mitchell scored the final four points of the half to take a 39-34 lead into the intermission.
Jean-Gilles had nine points, six rebounds, and three steals in the opening half, while Chambers added nine of his own and three assists. Mitchell was paced by 11 points and five rebounds from Hill while Martin hit a pair of threes en route to 10 points.
Regis made it a 39-37 game on a three-point play from Jean-Gilles, but the Mariners rattled off a 7-2 run capped off by Ford's first bucket of the game to take a 48-39 lead with 16:32 to play. Regis slowly chipped away and an Ethan Peana jumper from the short corner made it a six-point game. Ford answered with another jumper and Martin hit his fourth three-pointer of the game to put Mitchell back on top by 11.
Hill sandwiched lay-ups around a Marc Jr. basket and Epps) added a free throw that gave Mitchell its largest lead of the game at 74-60 with 5:14 to play. Regis answered with a 7-0 run that included a triple from Chambers and buckets from Marc Jr. and Jean-Gilles. Hill ended the run with a jumper in the lane, but Marc Jr. went on a personal 5-0 run to make it a 77-73 game and 2:24 remaining on the clock.
Regis was forced to foul and the Pride got a pair of misses at the stripe, but freshman Damion Hewitt corralled a big offensive rebound and laid it in to put Mitchell back on top by six. Hill went 3-for-4 at the charity stripe to stake the Mariners to an 82-74 lead, but a lay-up from Marc Jr. prompted a Regis timeout with 29 seconds left and the Pride down six. Mitchell senior Alex Del Rio and Martin hit 2-of-4 free throws before Chambers was fouled shooting a three and made it to keep it a two possession game.
Chambers missed the free throw to try and get an extra possession for Regis, but Ford grabbed the loose ball and was fouled. Regis still trailed by five with just 10 seconds to play, and although Jean-Gilles added a lay-up with two seconds remaining, it was too little too late as Mitchell hung on for the three-point win.
Mitchell won the rebounding battle 44-41, while Regis committed only 13 turnovers to the Mariners' 14, which the Pride turned into 14 points. Both teams shot well from the floor as Mitchell went 27-of-58 (47 percent) from the field and the Pride shot at a 44-percent clip (32-of-73). The Pride grabbed 21 offensive rebounds in the game, leading to 27 second chance points and a 46-28 edge in points in the paint.
Marc Jr. led the Pride with 26 points, while Chambers chipped in 20 points and three assists. Jean-Gilles recorded his second-straight double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds, including eight offensive boards. Peana, Monts, and Chris Leak Jr. added four points each.
Mitchell will try to make it seven straight wins on Tuesday, January 14 when it hosts Becker College at 3 p.m.