BRISTOL, R.I. — The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball came away victorious in its 2018-19 home opener, as the Hawks upended Worcester State University 88-68 Sunday afternoon.
Worcester State scored the first five points of the game on a jumper by Shaun McCarthy (Oxford, Mass.) and a three by Chris Cardoso (Jamaica Plain, Mass.). The Lancers held the advantage for the first five minutes of the game until a three-pointer by
Rich Pugliese (Middlebury, Conn.) put RWU up 11-10.
From there it would be a back-and-forth affair between the two squads. At the 10-minute mark,
Jake Heaton (Shelton, Conn.) knocked down a three for Roger Williams, allowing them to take a one-point lead (19-18). His basket helped spark a 10-0 Hawk run to help RWU extend the lead to eight with just over eight minutes left in the first half.
In the final two minutes,
Austin Coene (Tyngsborough, Mass.) went coast to coast to give RWU its largest lead of the half, a 35-24 advantage. The Hawks would ultimately go into halftime with a nine-point lead.
Drew Hart (Cheshire, Conn.) began the second half with a layup to push RWU's lead back to 11. From there, Roger Williams would not let Worcester State come within single digits the rest of the way as hot shooting in the second half propelled RWU to the win.
Roger Williams shot a blistering 61.1% from the field including 44.4% from three-point range in the second frame. RWU put up 53 points in the period to ease their way to the win.
Coene finished with a double-double, grabbing 12 rebounds while setting a new career high with 42 points for the Hawks. Hart added nine points and five assists while
JJ Pfohl (Trumbull, Conn.) went for eight points, three boards, and four assists.
McCarthy led Worcester State with 25 points to go along with five rebounds. Cardoso had a double-double with 15 points and ten rebounds, while Frantz Francois (Boston, Mass.) finished with 10 points and five boards off the bench.
Roger Williams (1-1) hosts Anna Maria College Friday in the Courtyard By Marriott Tournament on Friday, while Worcester State (1-1) hosts Baruch on Wednesday.
