Worcester, MA --- Freshman Robert Edwards (Idaho Falls, ID) and senior Derrick Neal (Brighton, MA) combined for 28 points to help lift Regis to a 65-55 triumph over Worcester State in non conference men's basketball action on Saturday.
Edwards netted a game-best 16 points for the Pride (3-3) while Neal tallied 12 points with four rebounds. Fourth-year Phil Alibrandi (York, ME) had a great all-around game with six points, seven boards with four steals and a pair of assists.
The Lancers (1-5) were paced by freshman Kurt Steiner's (Rutland, MA) 12 points as senior Dave Douillette (Bridgewater, MA) chipped in with 11 points. Junior Clayton Timas (New Bedford, MA) grabbed a game-best nine rebounds while sophomore Monte Goodwin (Boston, MA/Belmont) added nine points and seven caroms.
Worcester State outrebounded the visitors 46-37 overall and 19-6 off the offensive glass. Regis had a 30-24 edge with points in the paint while WSU held slight leads in points off turnovers (15-12) and second chance points (11-4).
Both squads had poor numbers from beyond the arc as Regis was 3-for-17 for the contest (0-12 in first half) as the Lancers connected for just two of their 15 attempts from three point land. The Pride shot a porous from the charity stripe as they only made 14 of their 32 shots from the free throw line (44 percent).
Over the games first quarter of play the Blue and Gold only hit three of their first 11 bids from the field while the Pride were hot with a 6-for-11 effort in the field to lead 14-7 at the 10:36 mark in the opening frame.
Worcester State was within four at 9:55 (14-10) before the Pride opened up an eight point edge three minutes later (22-14). The hosts then woke up from their haze to go on a 13-2 run to close out the opening frame to lead at the break, 27-24.
Steiner started the second stanza with a traditional three point play as WSU took a six point lead. Regis got back into the game with six consecutive points to knot the score at 30-30. Emmanuel Ferraud (Worcester, MA/South) broke the tie with a lay-up at the 17:00 mark as the Lancers would maintain three-to-four point cushion over the next four minutes of game play.
With the score 39-35 in favor of WSU, Alibrandi and freshman Ryan Chambers (Abington, MA) came up big for Regis as they nailed back-to-back trey's for the 41-39 edge at the 12:27 mark.
After the Pride ballooned their advantage to as much as seven (47-40) at the midway point, the Lancers got back into the contest with a 9-2 spurt to equal the score (49-49) at the 7:32 mark.
Regis led 51-50 before they took advantage of ten missed shots and a pair of miscues over the next six minutes by Worcester State to outscore the opposition 12-1 for their largest lead at 1:11 (63-51). WSU got to within eight (63-55) in the final seconds, but that was as close as they would get.
Worcester State looks to rebound at home during the Coaches Versus Cancer Holiday Classic. The Lancers will take on Colby-Sawyer in the opening round at 5 PM on Saturday. Regis entertains Newbury at 8 o'clock this Tuesday.