BRISTOL, R.I. – A second-half rally pushed the Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team to a 62-59 win over Colby-Sawyer College in the TCCC Quarterfinals Tuesday evening.

 

A 6-of-24 performance from the field in the first half put the Hawks in a 28-35 deficit entering the break. Duncan Szeliga (Newmarket, N.H.) and Dave Rosso (Wilmington, Vt.) had 32 of the Chargers' points in the half, with Szeliga scoring 19 and Rosso going for 13.

 

RWU stormed out to a 12-4 run to open the second half, capping it off with a Geoff Baranger (Fairfield, Conn.) layup to make it 40-39, giving Roger Williams its first lead since a 4-3 advantage 3:07 into the game.

 

The Chargers responded with a12-5 run of their own to make it 51-45 with 8:56 to play, but the Hawks clawed their way back into the game. Tucker Bashaw (Williston, Vt.) knotted the score at 54 with the first of two free throws, with RWU regaining the lead on an offensive rebound and layup by Baranger on Bashaw's second free throw.

 

Rosso made it 56 apiece with two free throws of his own, but the Hawks were able to get to the line twice over the final four minutes, with Baranger and Billy Barrett (Fairfield, Conn.) sinking a pair at the charity stripe to give RWU a 60-56 lead with only 29 seconds to play.

 

The Chargers continued to battle, with Rosso knocking down a clutch three-pointer with 19 seconds to play. On the inbound, Corey Fava (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) was fouled attempting to split a double team, where he dropped the two free throws to finish 6-of-6 at the line for the night.

 

Trailing by three with 17 seconds to play, the Chargers had three opportunities to send the game into overtime, as Rosso put up a three that was rebounded by Szeliga, who launched a trey of his own with five seconds left. The long rebound was corralled by teammate Ryan Murray (Killingworth, Conn.), who shot from downtown with three seconds left. Bashaw came up with the board that sealed the Hawk victory.

 

Baranger finished with his second double-double in three games, going for 17 points and 11 rebounds. Bashaw scored 16 points, while Fava finished with 11 points.

 

Szeliga just missed a double-double with 22 points and nine rebounds, while Rosso scored a game-high 24 points.

 

Roger Williams (16-10, 11-2 TCCC) advances to the semifinals of The Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament, where the Hawks will play #3 Gordon College, who defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology 73-61 earlier in the evening. The Hawks will host the Fighting Scots Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. Colby-Sawyer College finishes the season with an overall record of 13-11 and 8-5 in the TCCC.