Seahawks fall to host school at Hampton Inn/Naismith Classic

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Matt Cavalieri netted a team-best 14 points and Pat Crean added 10 points and 10 rebounds as the Springfield College men's basketball team breezed to a 77-49 win over Salve Regina in the Hampton Inn/Naismith Classic on Saturday evening.

The win, which snaps Springfield's four-game skid, makes the Pride 3-8 on the year. Springfield advances to play in the championship game on Sunday evening at 7:30, when it will face SUNY-Purchase. Purchase was victorious in the first men's game this evening, taking down Wesleyan, 70-68.

Darvis Rankins also notched double-digit points in the win as he totaled 10 to go along with six rebounds. Twelve different players scored for the Pride in the win as 14 players saw game action. In his first collegiate start, Billy Harkins added eight points to go along with three assists. To go along with his double-double, Crean also posted five assists and four steals.

The Seahawks were outmanned in the contest as only eight players suited up for action. Ryan Birrell totaled a game-high 16 points and recorded seven rebounds and five assists in the loss, while Dan Royce chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds. Salve shot just 27.6 percent from the floor (16-of-58) and struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just 7-of-28 attempts from downtown.

Springfield raced out to an 11-4 lead after Harkins drilled a three-pointer at 4:13 into the contest. Over the next 7 and a half minutes, Springfield completely took control of the game as it used a 16-6 run, capped off by a Cavalieri jumper, to take a 27-10 lead. A fast-break lay-in by Harkins with 27 ticks remaining in the opening 20 minutes gave Springfield its largest lead of the first half, 38-16.

Plenty of new faces played in the second half as head coach Charlie Brock let his bench see a good amount of game action. The Seahawks would only get to within 16 after a Tyler Sienkiewicz trifecta made it 45-29 in favor of the hosts with 14 minutes left in regulation. The final score of 77-49 proved to be Springfield's largest margin of the game, as a Matt Pascuzzo free-thrown gave SC a 28-point cushion.

Courtesy of Springfield sports information