Seattle Pacific SPU 4-6,0-0 Great Northwest

Regis (CO) Regis 3-2,0-0 RMAC

Seattle Pacific SPU

4-6,0-0 Great Northwest

Final

Nov. 25, 2023

Regis (CO) Regis

3-2,0-0 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Seattle Pacific SPU	30	26	56
Regis (CO) Regis	34	31	65

Summary
Box Score

Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | Nov 25 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Rangers put the clamps on Falcons, close out Thanksgiving Classic with 65-56 win

DENVER, Colo. — Less than 24 hours after earning a 15-point comeback victory, the Regis University men's basketball team put together a convincing and complete performance on Saturday, leading for 39 minutes of game action in a 65-56 win over Seattle Pacific University.

Regis (3-2 overall), winners of three straight during its current five-game home stand, flustered and frustrated a visiting Falcons team (4-6 overall), holding them to 38 percent shooting and a season-low 56 points.

"Seattle Pacific is a good team and both teams were a little tired and worn down from (Friday's games). But I thought we were a little deeper and used our depth to our advantage. And those are the sort of things we're going to have to do when we get into playing Friday-Saturday conference games," said Regis head men's basketball coach, Brady Bergeson. "I was proud of the way we competed for the majority of the 40 minutes and it was a big improvement off of last night. We've got a young group that is still learning lessons about the level of intensity needed to sustain efforts and multiple efforts. These things take time, but I think we took a couple positive steps in the right direction this weekend."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Regis was able to get off to a strong start, building its largest lead of the game at 21-12 with 8:33 remaining in the first half, and again at 34-25 at the 1:37 mark following a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Chase Mayo Harmon.

Mayo Harmon would pace the Rangers offense with a game-high 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting, joined in double-figures by freshman guard Ty Cox and redshirt junior guard Eddy Egun as the duo each added 13 points.

Seattle Pacific would tighten the gap to 34-30 at the half, and were back within one point as late as the 3:59 mark of the second half at 55-54, but were never able to tie or take a lead as the Rangers continued to produce timely answers on the offensive end.

Holding on to a one-possession lead at 59-56 with 1:41 remaining, the Rangers were able to clinch the game at the free-throw line, outscoring the Falcons 6-0 over the final 101 seconds to put a bow on the 65-56 final.

Defensively, the Rangers limited Seattle Pacific to 26 second-half points on a mere 33 percent (9-for-27) shooting. And while SPU did limit its turnovers to just 13 on the night — Regis forced 28 turnovers in Friday's win over Simon Fraser — the Rangers' full-court press and ball pressure did its job in disrupting the Falcons once they got into the front court.

"I wasn't surprised that Seattle Pacific took care of the ball well. Our pressure did not come out in the form of turnovers tonight, but I think where we saw the effects of our pressure were their low shooting percentage in the second half and from the 3-point line," Bergeson said. "We were able to pull them off their marks a little bit, make them start their offense higher on the floor or not getting into their offense on time. That was part of the game plan and I thought our guys did a really good job executing it."

Graduate student forward Tarig Eisa came off the bench and swatted a team-high three blocks as the Rangers' rim protector, adding three steals as well to tie Egun for the team high in that category.

Junior guard CJ Reed would added two steals and continued, giving him six for the weekend, as he continued to shine atop the Rangers' press.

"CJ is one of those big energy guys for us. We sat on him a little bit in the second half and then kind of unleashed him," Bergeson said. "His impact on the game doesn't always come out in his scoring or in a box score and it doesn't need to. He does a really good job getting others involved on offense and being scrappy, defensively. His presence is one of those where other guys feed off him when he's on the court."

GAME NOTES

Junior guard Trey Bryant led all Rangers with six rebounds, with Eisa and Cox each chipping in five apiece.
Regis finished 17-for-20 (85%) from the free-throw line, while Seattle Pacific struggled at the stripe (12-for-19, 63%).
The Rangers' bench outscored the Falcons, 26-11.

UP NEXT
Regis will now turn its attention toward the start of RMAC play, set to get underway next weekend with home games against Black Hills State (7 p.m. Friday) and South Dakota Mines (5 p.m. Saturday); the team's last home games of the fall semester.

"I like how our non-conference schedule worked out. We saw a lot of different styles of play. We had some success, we had some failure, and had all kinds of different games," Bergeson said. "I think all those things will be helpful when we get into league play and start seeing all the different styles of the play teams have in the RMAC. These are good stepping stones for us."

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