Salve Regina remains unbeaten in conference

NEWPORT, R.I. - All five starters touched the ball on its first possession as Salve Regina University men's basketball led almost from tip-off to final buzzer during a 74-53 win over Eastern Nazarene in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Rodgers Recreation Center. The Seahawks (6-5; 4-0 CCC), defending conference champions, are off to their best league start since 5-0 in 2004-05 season.

Four of the five starters finished in double-figure scoring led by graduate student Ryan Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) who topped all players with 19 points. Birrell also had five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a blocked shot.

Joshua Hohlfelder (Noank, Conn.), Jeff Bielefeld (Littleton, Mass.), and William Smiley (Saunderstown, R.I.) scored 13, 12, and 11 points respectively as Salve Regina maintained a double-digit lead the entire second half after Birrell converted a steal into a layup just before the halftime buzzer.

Junior forward Chima Ezeigbo (Roanoke, Va.) led the Lions with 17 points and four blocked shots. Brian Hard (Weymouth, Mass.) fell hard going for a rebound in the second half, but returned to lead all players with nine boards. Hard also had 11 points for Eastern Nazarene (2-9; 1-3 CCC) which got a 14-point effort from junior guard Max Barbosa (Dorchester, Mass.).

Salve Regina opened the second half on an 18-4 run which featured three baskets from Smiley including his first 3-pointer of the season. Birrell's jumper at 12:49 gave the home team its largest lead, 58-34.

Over two-thirds of its points came inside the paint as Salve Regina only connected on two of its 3-point attempts. Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, Mass.) led all players with four steals.

Salve Regina travels to Western New England University for a date with the Golden Bears on Thursday (8 p.m.) and Eastern Nazarene hosts Nichols College on the same night. Salve Regina remains unbeaten along with Gordon College, a team it will visit on Saturday.