Asheville, NC – On Sunday, the Regent University Men's Basketball team wrapped up a weekend road trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains as they faced Warren Wilson College. As the season was winding down, the Royals were still trying to earn a trip to the Conference Tournament in California. In order to do so, they would have to hold off their Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference foe in a back-and-forth game.
Regent found themselves down early to start the first half, but Junior Dorian Tema (Frederick, MD) and Sophomore Chauncey Gilliam (Chesapeake, VA) began to convert baskets to slowly chipped away at the deficit. Freshman Joshua Hanna (Chesterfield, VA) drained a three-pointer and then Senior Joshua Vogt (Rochester, NY) came off the bench to also hit a three, as the Royals grabbed their first lead of the game. Sophomore Ichi Layne (MIddlesex, VA) kept the three-point scoring going with one of his own and after defensive stops by Senior Brendan Goods (Melbourne, FL) Regent went into the half leading 40-34.
The Royals started the second half with Hanna finding the basket to increase their advantage to double-digits. He would do it again, scoring on post up moves and then Goods converted from the free throw line forcing an Owls time out, leading 51-36. After a defensive stop, Vogt drained a baseline three-pointer, but Warren Wilson would go on a run to pull to within 56-50. A three by Layne stopped the momentum and then Hanna found Tema cutting to the basket for another score, which was followed by a three-pointer by Layne as the shot clock was expiring. However, the Owls were able to pull to within two points and then take the lead with 2:29 remaining in the game and Regent was unable to come back falling by a final score of 82-78.
Hanna led the team with a Career High 18 points and 14 Rebounds, while Layne finished with 17 points. In addition, Vogt added 14 points, Tema had 11 points and Gilliam finished with 10 points.
The Royals will be back in action on Tuesday, February 10th when they host Mid-Atlantic Christian University. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm.
