Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. - The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team lost a hard-fought battle to Nichols College Tuesday evening, falling 81-90 in overtime.
 
Facing a stout defense and a strong press throughout the night, the Hawks persevered and kept things close throughout regulation. The first half was marked by six ties and six lead changes. Despite committing 13 turnovers to Nichols' 3, Roger Williams still managed to trail by only three at halftime. The Hawks were aided largely in part to a 28-17 rebounding margin, as well as a .452 shooting percentage in the half (14-of-31).
 
In the second half, RWU rallied from an eight-point deficit with four minutes left to tie the game and send it to overtime. The turning point came in the final 20 seconds of the game. Leading by three (70-67), Nichols chose to foul the Hawks rather than allowing RWU to get off a potential game-tying trey. Nick Marini (Loudonville, N.Y.) sank a pair of free throws to bring the deficit back to one before the Hawks fouled Marcos Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.). He would hit both shots to put Bison back up by one.
 
Coming down the other end, Marini saw the intentional foul coming and put up a long attempt to draw the contact and go to the line for three shots. He would sink all three to knot the game at 72 and send the game to OT.
 
The game remained close early in the extra period, with Nichols holding on to a slim 78-76 lead with 2:12 left. However from that point, the Nichols defense went back to work, as RWU went 1-for-3 while committing a pair of turnovers on their next five possessions. Over that stretch, the Bison lead stretched to nine with under a minute left to play, keeping the game out of the reach of RWU.
 
Gustave Koumare (Harlem, N.Y.) finished with a game-high 24 points, along with five assists, four steals, and four boards. Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) finished with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Jared Thompson (Scituate, R.I.) dropped 15 off the bench.
 
Conor O'Brien (Sharon, Mass.) led RWU with 19 points off the bench. Austin Coene (Tyngsborough, Mass.) notched a career-high 16 points and 14 boards, while Marini, Andrew Wasik (Gainesville, Fla.), and Jaylen Jennings (Norwalk, Conn.) each added ten points.
 
On Thursday, Roger Williams (4-7, 2-2 CCC) heads to Endicott while Nichols (8-2, 2-1 CCC) hosts Western New England.