Seymour nets 30 points; Pride flips score against Seahawks

(Courtesy of Springfield Athletic Communications)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 31, 2024) - An 18-0 run early in the second half sent the Springfield College men's basketball team over Salve Regina University, 73-57, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Wednesday evening in Blake Arena.

With tonight's result, Springfield split the season series with the Seahawks and improved to 7-13 overall and to 4-7 in NEWMAC play, while Salve Regina dropped to 10-11, 4-8. The two teams split the series by the exact same score in both contests as the Seahawks defeated the Pride on January 6 in Newport.

Springfield sophomore Josiah Evely (Toronto, Ontario) had one of his best games of the season as he stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four blocks and four steals. First-year Xoren Livingston (Wayland, Mass.) posted 15 points, while junior Josh Hartley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in with ten points and six boards. Salve Regina was paced by Sean Seymour (Albany, N.Y.), who posted a 30 point, 10 rebound double-double.

The Pride led from start to finish tonight as Livingston scored Springfield's first seven points of the game on a pair of three pointers and a shot from the charity stripe. A dunk by Hartley midway through the opening stanza sparked a quick 10-0 run that lasted 2:49 and extended Springfield's advantage to 23-8, tying its largest advantage of the first half. A trey by Seymour ended Springfield's run and kick started the Salve Regina offense as the Seahawks outscored the Pride 19-9 over the final seven minutes as the score stood at 32-26 at the break. Seymour scored nine of Salve Regina's 19 points in the run.

The visitors tallied the first four points of the second half before Springfield ripped off 18 straight points over a span of 5:04 for its largest lead of the game of 21 points at 50-29 with 12:49 on the clock. The run was powered by Hartley and Livingston, who combined for ten of Springfield's 18 points over the stretch. A layup from Brady Spencer (Pembroke, Mass.) cut the run for the Pride and Salve Regina eventually pulled its deficit to 12 points at 58-46 with 5:49 left on the clock. Springfield maintained its double-digit advantage for the final 16:07 of the second half en route to tonight's crucial NEWMAC victory.

Six different student-athletes scored for Springfield in the second half led by nine from both Evely and graduate student Joe Hoch (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) as the Pride shot at a 46.9-percent clip from the floor over the final 20 minutes of the game.