Springfield, Mass. - January 2, 2015 - The Springfield College men's basketball team edged Regis College, 61-60, in the opening game of the Hampton Inn West Springfield/Naismith Classic on Friday evening in Blake Arena on the campus of Springfield College

The Pride, which has now won its last three games, improves to 7-3, while Regis drops to 5-4. The consolation game of the Classic will take place on Saturday at 3:00 pm, while the championship tilt will tip at 5:00 pm.

Josh Altman (Rockport, Mass.) netted a team-best 11 points for Springfield, while classmate Nick Sienkiewicz (Cranston, R.I.) added 10 points.  Tim Swenson (Millbury, Mass.) netted nine points and picked up seven boards, and Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H.) stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals. 

Regis had four players score in double figures, with Jeff Tagger Jr. (Brockton, Mass.), Hector Heredia (Lawrence, Mass.), and Jaiwon Martin (Coral Springs, Fla.) each netting 11 points and Jordan Monts (Springfield, Mass.) tallying 10 points.

Playing for the first time since Dec. 12, Springfield showed signs up rust on the offensive end to begin the game and found itself trailing 11-7 with 13:02 on the clock.  Over the next 5:40, Springfield answered with an 11-2 surge to take an 18-13 lead following a Sienkiewicz triple from the left wing. 

Springfield would lead by as many as six after a Brandon Eckles (West Greenwich, R.I.) finish inside gave the hosts a 26-20 cushion with 1:26 left in the frame.  However, Regis benefited from a pair of Tagger lay ups in the final 1:09 to cut Springfield's lead to 27-24 heading into the break.

Springfield wasted little time seizing control of the game, pouring on a 14-3 run to begin the second half. Altman opened the stanza with five points in the opening 1:14 and Springfield's lead would later balloon to 41-27 on an elbow jumper from Sienkiewicz with 16:03 left in regulation. 

Regis fought their way all the way back into the contest scoring 17 of the game's next 23 points to climb within 47-44 on a bucket from Monts with 7:55 on the clock.

Down the stretch, Springfield went inside to Swenson, and consecutive buckets from the big man put Springfield ahead 51-44 with 5:04 to play.  Regis would not go away though, and used a pair of triples from Heredia to stay close, the latter coming at 1:37 to make it a 54-50 game.   

Coming out of a timeout, Martin made an acrobatic lay in while being fouled with the shot clock winding down and his three point play pushed the Pride's lead back to seven with 2:02 to play.

A Heredia floater made it a one-possession game with four seconds left, and after Sienkiewcz knocked down 1-of-2 from the line to make it a four-point game, Tagger Jr.'s three-pointer at the buzzer made it a 61-60 final score.

Clarkson 80, Cazenovia, 52

The Clarkson University men's basketball team cruised to an 80-52 win over Cazenovia College in the Hampton Inn West Springfield/Naismith Classic in Blake Arena on Friday evening.

The Golden Knights tied a Classic record for three-pointers in a game after connecting on 14 from beyond the arc, equalling the the mark that Kutztown had against Trenton State in 1995.

Drew Zlogar netted a game-high 14 points off the bench as he hit 4-of-6 from downtown, while Felix Abongo added 12 points.  John Coleman hauled in a game-best 10 boards and as a team, Clarkson handed out 22 assists on 27 made field goals.

Cazenovia was paced by DeMarcus Bernard's 11 points, while teammate Daniel Cunningham added 10 points and six caroms.

Clarkson took control of the game early, racing out to a 9-2 advantage following a pair of three-pointers by Abongo.  Cazenovia climbed within 11-7 midway through the first half on a inside bucker from Brad LeFevre, but a 13-2 burst by Clarkson allowed them to earn a 24-9 lead with 5:54 on the clock.  

At the half, the Golden Knights would lead by as many as 21 points and head into the locker room with a 34-16 lead.   Clarkson hit 7-of-13 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes and held the Wildcats to just 5-of-23 shooting from the field.

In the second half, the Wildcats would get as close as 14 after a Ryan Gavin putback with 14:21 left made it a 43-29 game.  Over the next seven minutes, Clarkson erupted on a 23-5 run to put the game out of reach for good, with Charles McAllister's three-pointer providing the exclamation point on the burst.

Cazenovia will meet Regis in the consolation game set for 3 p.m. tomorrow, while Clarkson advances to take on host Springfield in the championship tilt at 5 p.m.