St. Mary's City, MD – The pre-season was finally over, and the Regent University Men's Basketball team traveled north for its season opener Wednesday night with Saint Mary's College of Maryland. This year's team was coming in with high expectations as they were ready to showcase the most talented team the Royals have put on the court. However, the question was not about the talent, but whether or not they could come together early in the season and put together a complete game.
The first half began with the Seahawks starting in a full court press, but Regent was able to stay calm and get the ball over half court. They would fall behind by four points early, but Sophomore Christian Brown (Chesapeake, VA) stole an inbound pass and took it the length of the court for a dunk to trim it to two. However, St. Mary's was able to go on a small run until Freshman Darcy Minega (Kigali, Rwanda) drained a three form the top of the key. The Royals began to settle down after two Senior Darrin Clark (Suffolk, VA) free throws, but the Seahawks eventually opened up another lead, 20-9. Junior Dorian Tema (Frederick, MD) tried to slow things down with a block and then C. Brown came back off the bench and picked up a point from the free throw line. Eventually the deficit would grow to 17, but Junior Antoine Brown (Chesapeake, VA) stole the ball away and found Tema for a fast break layup at the other end. A. Brown would do it again, this time finding his brother C. Brown for a cutting layup which forced St. Mary's to call a timeout. Senior Brendan Goods (Melbourne, FL) would proceed to add some points of his own, followed by a driving basket by A. Brown, but at the half Regent trailed 48-31.
The Seahawks maintained their lead into the second half, but Goods and A. Brown began a comeback with back-to-back baskets pulling the Royals to within 53-40. They would get it to 11 after a Clark free throw, but St. Mary's eventually went on a run to increase their advantage to 20 points. It would stay that way, but with under seven minutes to play, A. Brown sparked a Regent comeback and after a three-point play by Freshman Chase Mullin (Virginia Beach, VA) the Royals found themselves only down 77-71. Unfortunately, they would not get any closer and as the final buzzer sounded Regent fell by a final score of 85-75.
C. Brown finished the game with 24 points, while Goods added 14 of his own. In addition, A. Brown had 11 points and 7 rebounds.
The Royals will be back in action on Saturday, November 15th when they remain on the road to face the University of Lynchburg. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00pm.
