Box Score
BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team picked up a 65-60 win over Medgar Evers College Friday evening in the opening game of the RWU/Courtyard by Marriott Tip-Off. The Hawks will play Bowdoin College in the championship game, who won 66-54 over Springfield College.
Taylor Petruccelli (Stratford, Conn.) led the Hawks with 17 points, while Matt Clifford (Norwood, Mass.) added 16 points and five rebounds. Corey Fava (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) finished with 13 points, five rebounds, and seven assists.
For Medgar Evers, Robert Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 17 points, with teammate Jovan Deare (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finishing with 16 points and four rebounds. Kayode Prime (Grenada, West Indies) had a solid all-around game for the Cougars with nine points, eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and five steals.
The first half turned out to be a back-and-forth affair between the Hawks and the Cougars, with the squads combining for six ties and seven lead changes in the period. Despite shooting 48 percent from the field in the period, Medgar Evers entered the break trailing 31-28 due largely in part to 12 first-half turnovers.
Despite only shooting 9-of-16 in the second period, the Hawks held Medgar Evers to a 32.4 percent (11-of-34) performance from the field, while shooting 15-of-21 from the line to hold off the Cougars. RWU was able to stave off a late Cougar rally in the final minute of the game, with Fava knocking down a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left to play to put RWU up 65-60, a margin that ultimately went on to be the final score.
In the nightcap, Bowdoin's Ryan O'Connell (Ipswich, Mass.) led all scorers with 20 points including going 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Will Hanley (New Canaan, Conn.) scored 16 points with seven rebounds, while Maximillian Staiger (West Caldwell, N.J.) finished with two points, eight boards, and three blocks.
Springfield's Matt Cavalieri (West Warwick, R.I.) finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, while teammate Ryan Coburn (West Warwick, R.I.) scored 11 with four rebounds. Billy Harkins (Bellmore, N.Y.) had four points, four rebounds, five assists, and four steals for the Pride.
An early Bowdoin rally helped the Polar Bears jump out to a lead that the Pride just could not recover from, with Bowdoin hitting eight of its first 11 shots to take a 20-7 lead in the opening six minutes of the game. Springfield would pull within single digits numerous times throughout the game, but were unable to come close than three over the remainder of the game, as Bowdoin held on for the win.
Roger Williams (2-0) faces Bowdoin (1-0) at 3:00 p.m. in the championship game, prior to Medgar Evers (0-2) and Springfield (0-2) in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m.
