Westminster, MD – On Saturday afternoon, the Regent University Men's Basketball team followed the Chesapeake Bay north to Maryland for an afternoon match-up with McDaniel College. Today's game would mark the first ever meeting between the two schools and the first of two games against each other in 30 days. In addition, it would be the Royals' first trip this season to the Old-Line State, as they looked to come away with another win over an NCAA Division III program.
The first half began with Regent's leading scorer Junior Vladimir Vibert (West Palm Beach, FL) converting an old fashion three-point play for the first points of the game. The Green Terror would answer, but a long three-pointer by Sophomore Micah Eastman (Virginia Beach, VA) put the Royals back in front. The next few minutes were back-and-forth until fellow Freshmen Brandon Williams (Windsor, NC) and Christian Brown (Chesapeake, VA) hit back-to-back threes to give Regent the lead again, 25-22. Eventually, McDaniel was able to grab the advantage and with 4:53 remaining in the half, led by five points. Eastman and C. Brown converted to more three-pointers but as the teams headed to the locker rooms, the Royals trailed 49-42.
Regent forced a turnover on the first possession of the second half but were unable to convert on the other end. The Green Terror would take advantage of that and forced a Royals' timeout after jumping out to a double-digit lead. Eastman found the basket on a step back jumper, but McDaniel answered with a basket on the other end of the court and began to increase their advantage. A few minutes later Vibert converted a driving layup, was fouled, and completed the three-point play at the line. C. Brown would continue his dominance from behind the three-point line, while Sophomore Brendan Goods (Long Beach, VA) controlled the offensive and dribbled in for a short jumper. Unfortunately, Regent could not cut into the lead and would fall by a final score of 91-70.
C. Brown led the Royals with 21 points while finishing 4-4 from three-point range. In addition, Vibert added 20 points and Goods would continue to be the team leader in steals, ending the game with three. As a team, Regent scored 33 points off the bench and scored 14 points off turnovers.
The Royals will be back in action on Thursday, December 12th when they travel to Lexington, VA for an exhibition match-up with VMI on ESPN+. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00pm.
