Box Score
BRISTOL, R.I. – A strong second-half shooting performance helped push the Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team to a 88-51 win over New England College Saturday afternoon, giving Head Coach Mike Tully his 90th career victory at Roger Williams University to become RWU's all-time leader in victories.
With the win over the Pilgrims, Tully moves past Thomas Sienkiewicz, who previously held the top spot of winningest coach in RWU Men's Basketball history. Sienkiewicz spent seven seasons has head coach of the Hawks, compiling an 89-94 record before being succeeded by Tully in the 2002-03 season. Since then, Tully has had at least 12 wins in five of his six seasons, with two trips to the TCCC Championship game and one TCCC Coach of the Year honor.
The victory puts Tully's career record at 90-87, in search of his third straight winning season.
The Hawks exploded for 54 points in the second half, shooting a season-best 24-of-35 from the field (68.6 percent). The RWU bench was responsible for a bulk of the scoring, with the Hawk subs accounting for 48 points, including Joe Kane (Glenmont, N.Y.), who scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in only eight minutes of action.
RWU got off to a quick start, beginning the game on a 7-0 run and eventually taking a 20-11 lead on a Tucker Bashaw (Williston, Vt.) three-point play. The Pilgrams quickly knocked off five points of their deficit with a three by Grant Leger (Chatsworth, Calif.) and a layup by Spencer Marzouk (Greensboro, N.C.). to trail by four with 7:36 to play in the half. A couple of minutes later, a layup by Brandon Murray (Roxbury, Mass.) would make it a one-possession game, pulling New England College within two. Yet the Hawks ran off six straight points in a 12-3 run to close out the half with an 11-point lead.
In the second half, New England College came back within single digits in the opening minute off of a jumper by Leger, but Corey Fava (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) came down the other end and hit a long two to put RWU put back up by 11. The double-digit lead would remain throughout the rest of the period. The game slipped away from New England College halfway through the period, when the Hawks used a 19-3 run to go up by 32 and distance themselves from the Pilgrims.
Bashaw led all scorers with 13 points off the bench, while Fava added a season-high 12 points and five assists. Billy Barrett (Fairfield, Conn.) went for 11 points and five assists.
Leger scored ten points with eight rebounds for the Pilgrims. Shane Hennessey (Plymouth, U.K.) finished with eight points and ten boards, while Jason Minerve (Narre Warren, Austrailia) added five points and four assists.
Roger Williams (8-8, 4-1 TCCC) hosts Endicott College Thursday at 8:00 p.m., while New England College (2-13, 0-4 TCCC) takes on Gordon College Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
