No. 9 Men's Basketball Rolls At Regis Sunday Night, 81-56

WESTON, Mass. - The nationally-ranked No. 9 University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team rolled to its 18th straight victory, defeating the Regis College (REG) Pride, 81-56, on the road Sunday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest at Higgins Court. The victory marks the 18th straight win for USJ dating back to the abbreviated 2020-21 season as the Blue Jays have now won 16 consecutive games to start the 2021-22 campaign. The Blue Jays remain the only undefeated team left in Division III, improving to 16-0 overall and 11-0 in GNAC play. Regis slides to 7-8 overall and 4-5 in conference action with the setback. During the streak, USJ has also won its last 17 games by double digits.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Saint Joseph 81, Regis 56
Records: USJ 16-0 (11-0 GNAC), REG 7-8 (4-5 GNAC)
Location: Higgins Court | Weston, Mass.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Regis College's junior guard Justin Evelyn (Uniondale, N.Y.) turned in a layup to knot the game, 6-6, in the early stages of the contest, but that would be as close as the Pride would get for the remainder of the contest as the Blue Jays once again never trailed in route to their 16th straight victory of the season. It marked the sixth time this season that USJ has accomplished that feat. Following the lay-in by Evelyn, USJ's senior guard Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) canned a three-pointer on the next trip down the floor to start a 7-0 spurt and build a 13-6 advantage with 13:27 left to play in the opening half.

A few minutes later, a 9-0 run by the Pride, fueled by a pair of long balls from junior forward Zakaria Latifi (Holliston, Mass.), pulled the hosts back to within a point, 21-20, with under eight minutes to play before the intermission. However, the Blue Jays responded with a 13-3 run over the ensuing four minutes to catapult them out in front, 34-23, with 3:29 left in the opening stanza. After a layup from Regis' senior forward Marc Trinidad (Bronx, N.Y.) cut the deficit back to single digits, the Blue Jays closed the opening period by outscoring the Pride 9-2 to take a comfortable 43-27 lead into the locker rooms. USJ would lead by double figures the rest of the way.

The Pride came out of the break looking make a dent in the Blue Jays' lead and trimmed the gap to as low as 12 (47-35) after scoring eight of the first 12 points to start the second half. However, a monster 25-6 burst by the Blue Jays followed to put the game out of reach as USJ built a commanding 72-41 cushion. USJ's defense held Regis to just two field goals during the massive run which spanned more than 10 minutes during the middle of the second stanza and the Blue Jays would go on to win, 81-56, when the final buzzer sounded.

COACH QUOTE [Glen Miller]
"The guys did an outstanding job handling this five-game road stretch. Tyree Mitchell, Jordan Powell, Chaylyn Martin and Ryan O'Neill played well for us offensively, and as usual, Jalen Samuels impacted the game in a big way on the defensive end of the floor. After 14 days, we are looking forward to getting back on our home floor against Dean Tuesday night!"

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Senior guard Tyree Mitchell (East Hartford, Conn.) was once again tremendous off the bench, scoring a game-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, to lead four Blue Jays in double figures on the night. He was also a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Senior guard Chaylyn Martin (Hartford, Conn.) notched his sixth career double-digit scoring night finishing with 13 points (6-12 FG) to go along with five rebounds. Senior forward Jordan Powell (Middletown, Conn.) finished one rebound shy of another double-double with 16 points (6-9 FG) and nine rebounds, while O'Neill chipped in with 14 points (5-13 FG) and grabbed seven caroms.

The Blue Jays held the Pride to a season-low 28.1% shooting (18-64). Regis was solid from the three-point line (8-20, 40.0%), but shot just 10-of-44 from two-point distance. USJ held advantages in fastbreak points (12-3) and points off turnovers (18-6), but the major damage was done in the paint (52-16).

Saint Joseph held the Pride's top two scorers, Trinidad and junior guard Cameron Wilkins (Taunton, Mass.), to a combined 6-of-23 shooting (26.1%).

UP NEXT
The Blue Jays finally return back home after completing a five-game GNAC road swing and play the Bulldogs of Dean College on Tuesday night. Tipoff for the GNAC tilt between the Blue Jays and Bulldogs is scheduled for approximately 7:00 p.m. inside the O'Connell Center following the conclusion of the USJ and Dean women's game, which is slated to begin at 5:00 p.m. Please review USJ's most recent spectator policy here and as always fans can tune into all of the action live by visiting www.usjbluejays.com. 

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