PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team opened the 2009-10 season with a 61-58 win against intra-state rival Johnson & Wales in a non-conference contest at the Harborside Recreation Center on Sunday afternoon.

Sophomore Gary Madison (Waterbury, Conn.) led the way for Roger Williams with a game-high 16 points and four rebounds.  Sophomore Pat Flanagan (Somerville, Mass.) added 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Hawks while junior Corey Fava (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) was also in double figures with 11 points and six boards in the victory.

Freshman John Alexander (Mt. Kisco, N.Y.) paced Johnson & Wales with 15 points and seven rebounds while sophomore James Folk (Salem, N.H.) added 12 points and six boards for the Wildcats in the setback.

Johnson & Wales jumped out to the early lead when a three pointer by senior Richard DiLascio (West Nyack, N.Y.) with 11:49 left in the half put the Wildcats up 16-7.  JWU led by as many as 12 in the first half after a layup by James Folk made the score 23-11 with 7:48 remaining in the half.  Roger Williams responded, however and went on a 14-4 run, capped by a three point play by junior Travis O'Dell (Brunswick, Maine) to make the score 27-25 with less than a minute left in the half.  A pair of free throws by junior Justin Adams (Providence, R.I.) put the Wildcats up 29-25 heading into the locker room at halftime.  JWU shot 50% from the field while holding Roger Williams to just 36.7% in the first half.

Roger Williams started strong in the second half and took their first lead of the game when a three pointer by Gary Madison made the score 33-31 with 17:10 on the clock.  The two teams then battled leads through the remainder of the second half with Johnson & Wales holding the 58-56 lead on a layup by sophomore Tavarius Roberson (Orlando, Fla.) with 1:48 left.  The visiting Hawks controlled the action down the stretch, however as they closed out the game with a 5-0 run, including four points from the free throw line in the last :30 of the game to take the 61-58 victory.

With the loss Johnson & Wales falls to 0-1 while Roger Williams improves to 1-0 for the year.  The Wildcats will return to action on Tuesday, November 17th when they travel to UMass Dartmouth for a non-conference contest, starting at 7:00 p.m.

- Release courtesy of the Johnson & Wales University Sports Information Department