QUINCY, Mass. – With a 71-48 victory over Eastern Nazarene College Saturday afternoon, the Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team finishes the regular season as co-champions of The Commonwealth Coast Conference with Curry College.

 

RWU had one of its best shooting performances of the season, hitting 59.6% of its shots from the field (31-52). The Hawks got three double digit scoring performances from Tucker Bashaw (Williston, Vt.), Dan Gumb (Patterson, N.Y.), and Geoff Baranger (Fairfield, Conn.). Bashaw led all players with 14 points, while Gumb and Baranger added 12 and 10, respectively.

 

Although the Hawks led throughout most of the first half, the Crusaders kept themselves in the game, cutting a 22-33 deficit with 2:57 to play in the period to only five entering the break. 

 

The turning point in the game was a three-minute stretch beginning at the 11-minute mark. A Brett Rahrer jumper pulled Eastern Nazarene within nine, making it a 39-48 game. The Hawks forced turnovers on four of the following five Crusader possessions while scoring 11 straight points.

 

After Baranger's jumper led to a Crusader timeout, the Hawk lead had ballooned to 20 points in less than three minutes, putting Eastern Nazarene in a situation that the team could not over come.

 

Alex Carr (Middletown, Md.) led the Crusaders with 12 points, while Luc Jasmin (Pawtucket, R.I.) added eight points and five rebounds.

 

Roger Williams (15-10, 11-2 TCCC) will enter the TCCC Tournament as the #2 seed and will host #7-seed Colby-Sawyer College Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Nazarene finishes the regular season with a record of 5-20 and 2-11 in the conference.