BRISTOL, R.I. – A tightly contested game between the Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team and Wentworth Institute of Technology ended in favor of the Hawks, as RWU edged the Leopards 85-84 Saturday afternoon and improved its Commonwealth Coast Conference record to 3-0.

 

Neither team had trouble shooting the basketball, with the Hawks hitting 53.3% of the attempts while the Leopards shot a season-high 66.7% from the field. The impressive overall offensive display by both teams kept the game at a back-and-forth pace, as evidenced by the 17 lead changes and 14 ties.

 

Crunch time for the two squads came at the 2:11 mark, when a Tucker Bashaw (Williston, Vt.) layup tied the game at 76 apiece. Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (Norwalk, Conn.) answered with a jumper on the other end to give the Leopards a two-point lead with under two minutes left.

 

After Todd Doyle (Mystic, Conn.) broke an 81-81 tie with a pair of free throws, Geoff Baranger (Fairfield, Conn.) knotted the game at 83 with 40 seconds to play.

 

On the ensuing Leopard possession, Shane West (Saco, Maine) was fouled with 16 seconds left in the game. He sank the first basket but came up short on the second, leaving the Hawks with a chance to regain the lead.

 

Corey Fava (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) drove to the lane with two seconds to go and drained a jumper in the paint, hanging in the air just long enough to get the shot off.

 

After a pair of timeouts, the Leopards inbounded the ball the length of the court into the hands of Prezzie-Blue. His fadeaway jumper in the corner came off his hands in time to beat the buzzer, but could not find the bottom of the net, giving the Hawks the win.

 

Four Hawks scored in double figures, including Dan Gumb (Patterson, N.Y.) who shot a perfect 9-of-9 from the field for 20 points. Bashaw finished with 19 points and four assists, while Baranger and Ben Camobreco (Duxbury, Mass.) each scored ten apiece.

 

The Leopards had five players with at least 11 points, with Prezzie-Blue finishing with 19 and Weonard Bynes (Bridgeport, Conn.) scoring 18 to go along with his game-high eight rebounds.

 

Roger Williams (7-8, 3-0 TCCC) will host Gordon College Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., while Wentworth (7-6, 1-2 TCCC) goes on the road Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. meeting with Western New England College.