BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball rallied from a first-half deficit to earn a berth in The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship game with a 67-66 win over Gordon College Thursday evening.

 

Gordon College led throughout the entire first half, until the Geoff Baranger (Fairfield, Conn.) tied the game at 48 with a layup at the 7:18 mark. That layup began a stretch for Baranger where he scored ten straight points for the Hawks, culminating in a 56-51 lead for the Hawks with 2:16 to play.

 

Holding a 58-51 advantage with 1:24 to play, Gordon's Aaron Trigg (Overland Park, Kans.) sank two of three free throws after being fouled going up for a trey to pull the game within five. RWU responded with a successful three-pointer by Ryan McGinn (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) to put the Hawks up by eight.

 

With 19 seconds to play, Billy Barrett (Fairfield, Conn.) split a pair at the charity stripe to give the Hawks a 64-57 advantage with 19 seconds to play. At the other end, Justin Kaufman (Redding, Conn.) pulled up for a clutch three-pointer to make it a four-point game. After fouling Barrett, who dropped both free throws, Kaufman came back down the court and drained another trey to make it 66-63 in favor of the Hawks with nine seconds to play.

 

Ben Camobreco (Duxbury, Mass.) was fouled on the inbound, needing to hit one of his two free throws to make it a four-point game that would put the Fighting Scots in a difficult position. Camobreco rimmed out the first shot, giving Gordon a glimmer of hope, but Camobreco swished his final attempt to give RWU the comfortable four-point lead. Through Trigg drilled a three at the buzzer for the Fighting Scots, it was not enough as the Hawks escaped with the one point win.

 

Baranger went for a season-high 29 points, including 16 in the second half. McGinn had 13 points off the bench, while Corey Fava (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) finished with eight points and six rebounds.

 

Kaufman and Jon Marstaller (Naples, Maine) each scored 18 for the Fighting Scots, while Trigg finished with 13 points and five boards.

 

Roger Williams (17-10, 11-2 TCCC) will head up to Milton to take on top-seeded Curry College Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in the TCCC Championship game. Gordon closes out the season with a record of 18-9 and 9-4 in the TCCC.