Staunton, VA – Tuesday night began a critical stretch for the Regent University Men's Basketball team, as they worked to qualify for the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference tournament at the end of the month. Tonight, the quest began at Mary Baldwin University, out of the USA South Conference, and it would be a challenge for the Royals on the road.
Sophomore Chauncey Gilliam (Chesapeake, VA) found a cutting Freshman Grant Worley (Chesapeake, VA) for a back door basket to start the first half and a few plays later, Gilliam would cut to the basket himself for a quick score and then followed that up with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Midway through the half, Regent found themselves down by 11 points, until Sophomore Ichi Layne (Middlesex, VA) drove by his defender for a layup. Junior Antoine Brown (Chesapeake, VA) came off the bench and got his own rebound for the offensive put back, and then Gilliam would do it again, this time with a spinning drive to the basket. On the next possession, Layne got the ball to Freshman Joshua Hannah (Chesterfield, VA) in the blocks, and he backed the defender in for an easy two points. The Fighting Squirrels would go on a run until Junior Emani Langley (Chesapeake, VA) came off the bench and drained a long three-pointer to keep the Royals within striking distance. Junior Dorian Tema (Frederick, MD) sparked a run for Regent with a layup and then Senior Joshua Vogt (Rochester, NY) converted a three-pointer, which was followed by another Tema score. Another three-pointer from Vogt would cut the deficit and send the Royals into halftime only trailing 44-38.
Mary Baldwin was about to extend their lead back to double-digits as the second half began, but Senior Darrin Clark (Suffolk, VA) found fellow Senior Brendan Goods (Melbourne, FL) under the basket for a layup. On their next offensive possession, Clark took the ball again, this time connecting on a short jumper, and then he and Hannah would follow that up with back-to-back scores. Regent kept their run going with baskets from Tema, Clark and Vogt and then Worley cut the deficit to just two points after converting a fast break dunk and a free throw. Unfortunately, the Fighting Squirrels would push their lead back to 10 points, until Vogt drove the baseline for two points, then he kept his hot hand with a long three-pointer on the next possession. As the game was winding down Worley drained a clutch three-pointer to pull to the Royals to within four points. However, that is as close as they would get as Regent fell by a final score of 85-78.
Vogt led the way with a career high 16 points, shooting 3-4 from behind the arc, while Worley added 11 points finishing 4-5 from the free throw line. In addition, Gilliam recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Royals will be back in action on Saturday, February 7th when they travel to the Queen City to face Johnson & Wales University. Tip-off is set for 3:00pm.
