BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team staved off a furious comeback by Wesleyan University Saturday afternoon, as the Hawks defeated the Cardinals 68-65.

Wesleyan erased a 19-point halftime deficit via strong rebounding and three-point shooting. The Cardinals grabbed 26 boards, including 11 offensive, while draining 55.6% of the shots from downtown in the second period.

Roger Williams entered the second half up by a 41-22 margin, due in part to a seven-point, five-assist first half by Billy Barrett (Fairfield, Conn.). The Hawks took their largest lead of the game at the 16:59 mark, when a pair of free throws by Pat Flanagan (Somerville, Mass.) made it a 48-26 game. At this point, Wesleyan ran off six straight points as part of a 20-8 run to come within ten.

Trailing 61-50 with 5:21 to play, Wesleyan pulled within six off of a jumper by David Maltz (Rosemont, Pa.) and three-pointer by Jeremy Kaminer (Cherry Hill, N.J.). Ryan McGinn (Plattsburg, N.Y.) knocked down a jumper to put RWU back up by eight, but Wesleyan continued to chip away at the deficit with buckets by Stan Grayson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Kevin Scura (Concord, NH). Jason Mendell (Beford, N.Y.) completed the Cardinal comeback with his off-balance trey, tying the game at 63 apiece with only 1:20 to play.

Roger Williams regained the lead off of McGinn's jumper, putting the Hawks up 65-63 with 53 seconds to go. Maltz had a chance to knot the game back up with a shot on the next possession, but found the outstretched hand of Kyle Bogucki (Clinton, Conn.), as Taylor Petruccelli (Stratford, Conn.) corralled the board and sank one of the two free throws after being fouled to stretch the lead to three.

With 26 seconds to play, Mendell missed a layup at the other end, where Petruccelli found the board again. After being wrapped up and sent to the line, he netted both free throws to give RWU a five-point lead. Wesleyan still remained in the game, but found itself in a tough position after missed shots by Kaminer and Grayson. Maltz dropped in a layup with one second to go, but the Hawks successfully inbounded the ball to escape with the win.

Barrett finished with 14 points for the Hawks, along with six assists. Petrucelli had six points and six boards, while Tucker Bashaw (Williston, Vt.) dropped in 12 off the bench.

For Wesleyan, Mendell led all scorers with 21 points in 30 minutes of action. Grayson picked up a double-double with 19 points and 13 boards off the bench, while Kaminer came one assist shy of a double-double, finishing with 11 points and nine helpers.

Roger Williams (4-4) finishes 2008 at .500, and will not play again until the New Year when the Hawks travel down to Orlando to play Johns Hopkins on January 3 in the ECAC Classic. Wesleyan (1-5) takes on another TCCC opponent in Endicott on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.