WENHAM, Mass. – In Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action tonight in the Bennett Athletic Center, the Fighting Scots cruised to an 81-59 win over the visiting Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team to advance to the conference semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 21.

The Scots improve to 20-6 overall on the season with the win, while the Hawks finish their campaign at 10-16 overall.

Senior forward David Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) led the Scots and tied the game-high for the night with 20 points to go with eight rebounds and junior guards Luke Hamilton (Mount Airy, N.C.) and Park Thomas (Scottsdale, Ariz.) recorded 16 apiece. Thomas also broke his season record for assists with nine on the night, while junior guard Alex Carnes (Phoenix, Ariz.) and sophomore guard Taylor Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) tallied 11 points, eight boards and 10 points, seven boards, respectively. Additionally, sophomore center Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) chipped in six points, seven rebounds.

Overall the Scots put up outstanding numbers as a team, shooting 52 percent from the floor (28-54), 53 percent from behind the arc (9-17), 84 percent from the stripe (16-19), and out-rebounding the Hawks 44-25.

RWU sophomore guard Ryan Palumbo (Warwick, R.I.) had a solid outing with 20 points, seven rebounds, and four steals in 39 minutes of work, while sophomore forward Adam Cook (Manasquan, N.J.) netted 15 and senior forward Mike Engemann (Red Bank, N.J.) added 12 to lead the effort. As a team Roger Williams shot 39 percent on the night.

Gordon opened the night with an offensive flurry, going on a 17-4 run behind nine points from long distance by Hamilton. The Hawks then battled right back with an 11-2 run of their own off six points from Engemann to make it a four-point ballgame (19-15) at 10:33. For the remainder of the half, though, the Scots held steady on both ends of the court to carry a seven-point lead into the locker room (33-26).

The Hawks looked to be threatening a comeback at the start of the second after notching six points within the first two minutes to cut Gordon's lead to just three. Of their eight total points in the first three minutes, however, Thomas alone hit eight of his 16 in those same minutes to help the Scots maintain their advantage. And though RWU did close to within four (41-37) at 16:26 following a three from Cook, the Scots shot the lights out overall in the half, recording 58 percent from the floor and a perfect 6-6 from long range while only misfiring one shot in the final eight minutes to pull away from their guests and secure the 22-point victory.

The No. 2 Scots will host the Leopards of No. 3 Wentworth, who topped Nichols in their tournament opener tonight, at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.