Springfield, Mass. – January 11, 2025 – The Springfield College men's basketball team came up short against Salve Regina University, 79-69, on Saturday afternoon in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) matchup in Blake Arena.

Salve Regina improved to 5-8 overall and to 2-2 in NEWMAC play, while Springfield suffered its first conference loss of the year and is now 5-7, 2-1.

Zander Robinson (East Hartford, Conn.) guided Springfield's offense with 17 points in 24 minutes off the bench, while Cedric Rodriguez (Burlington, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the floor for the Pride. Jojo Powers registered a game-high 24 points to go along with four board and four assists for the Seahawks, while Declan Walmsley chipped in with 16 points and five rebounds and Brad Fowler posted 14 points in 15 minutes off the bench in the win for Salve Regina.

Both teams traded baskets to open the game before a pair of free throws by Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.) and a layup by Jarron Flynn (Roslindale, Mass.) gave Springfield an early 6-2 edge. Salve Regina trailed 10-7 just a couple of minutes later before the Seahawks embarked on a 12-2 run to go ahead by a 19-12 margin with 12:23 remaining in the first before a trey by Robinson cut the run.

Springfield answered with a brief spurt of its own and eventually regained the lead at 24-23 following a layup from Livingston forcing the visitors to call a timeout. With three minutes to play in the first, Salve Regina put together ten straight points for a 41-31 lead and took an eventual 41-34 lead into the break.

An early 10-1 run in the second pushed Salve Regina's advantage to 17 at 61-44 with 12:43 left in the game and Springfield got no closer than eight points as the visiting Seahawks left Blake Arena with a 79-69 win.

Salve Regina shot 47.5-percent from the floor and knocked down five shots from behind the arc. The Seahawks also scored 46 points in the paint and 18 points off of Springfield turnovers. Salve Regina also shot an impressive 16-for-19 from the free throw line. In a similar fashion, Springfield shot 46.0-percent from the floor, hit five three point buckets and hit 18-of-27 shots from the charity stripe.

Springfield scored 28 points in the paint, 16 points off Salve turnovers and received 37 points off the bench.

Springfield will travel to Babson College for a NEWMAC tilt on Tuesday at 7:00 pm.

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