NORTON, Mass. - The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team picked up its second straight close victory with a 64-60 win over Wheaton College on Thursday night in Emerson Gymnasium.
Wheaton falls to 0-4 on the young season, while the Hawks improved to 4-1. Wheaton moves to 0-3 in games decided by four points or fewer.
Hawk senior Taylor Petruccelli (Stratford, Conn.) led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points and five boards, while juniors Gary Madison (Waterbury, Conn.) and Pat Flanagan (Somerville, Mass.added 11 and ten points, respectively.
Lyon senior Anthony Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) led all scorers with 16 points, going 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point stripe, while junior Anthony Weeks (Fitchburg, Mass.) had 14 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Junior Brendan Degnan (Narragansett, R.I.) chipped in nine points, and classmate Shawn Daily (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds, including eight offensive, to go with six points as a reserve.
The Lyons trailed the entire second half, falling behind by as many as nine points at 57-48 with 4:14 remaining before battling back to make things interesting. Wheaton reeled off 10 of the game's next 12 points in slicing its deficit to 59-58, as a Weeks rebound and putback gave the Lyons hope with 27.7 ticks on the clock.
A trio of Roger Williams freebies made the score 62-58 in the waning seconds before a tip-in from Lyon sophomore Brian Johnson (Roxbury, Mass.) brought it to 62-60 with 3.3 seconds left, but the Hawks iced the win by converting a pair of free throws with 0.8 ticks showing.
Eight lead swings and four ties highlighted a back-and-forth start to the opening half. With the score knotted at 17, the visitors went on a 9-0 spurt over 1:35 to lead 26-17 at 6:15. Three different Lyons hit lay-ups to make the score 26-23 with four minutes to play before Roger Williams responded with five straight points to extend its advantage to 31-23 with a shade under three minutes to go before the break. The Hawks entered the intermission with a 33-27 edge.
Roger Williams will be on the road Saturday at Salve Regina University. The Lyons remain at home on Saturday to face local foe Bridgewater State University in the back end of a doubleheader at 3:00 p.m.
- Release courtesy of the Wheaton College Sports Information Department
