SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team prevailed 65-63 over Western New England University in overtime Saturday at the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house in a Commonwealth Coast Conference matchup.

The Golden Bears fall to 6-12 and 4-7 in conference play, and the Hawks advance to 6-13, and 5-7 in conference play.

Senior guard Nick DeFeo and junior wing Musa Elsir both scored a game high 17 points for Western New England.

The Golden Bears looked good out of the gate trading baskets with the Hawks and outshooting them 37.9% on 11-for 29 to 26.5% on 9-for-34 in the first half. Kevin Wilkes (3 blocks) added 10 points to the Golden Bear effort off the bench and pulled down 9 rebounds.

The second half was a whirlwind with the Golden Bears taking an early lead. The Hawks cut the deficit and continued to go basket for basket with Western New England. The Golden Bear's offense was ignited by Dennis Rinaldi (8 points, 9 rebounds) when he dove out of bounds to save the ball, and quickly passed it to Kevin Wilkes for a layup with 2:55 left in regulation.

Roger Williams took the lead with 47 seconds left and held it until DeFeo was fouled with 3 seconds left on the clock. The Golden Bears were in the bonus and DeFeo went to the line and hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 58-58 and send it into overtime.

Roger Williams came out strong in overtime taking a 64-60 lead, when DeFeo launched a three and sank it with 14 seconds remaining to make it 64-63. The Golden Bears intentionally fouled and sent the Hawks to the free throw line. After hitting one shot from the line, the Hawks led 65-63. On the final possession Luis Agrait (2 assists) threw up a three-point prayer that went in and out.

Western New England scored 30 points in the paint and 8 points off of turnovers, while the Hawks netted 22 in the paint, and 14 off of giveaways.

The Golden Bears finished the game shooting 38.1% from field goal range on 24-of-63, and Roger Williams shot 25-for-65 for 38.5%.

Chris Bardwell (North Andover, Mass.) scored 16 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for the hawks, and Andrew Wasik (Gainesville, Fla.) and Josh Syska (Peabody, Mass.) recorded double-doubles with 15 points and 10 rebounds and 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks.

The Golden Bears visit Gordon College for their next CCC matchup on Tuesday. Roger Williams will host Eastern Nazarene on Tuesday.

- Release courtesy of the Western New England University Sports Information Department