NORTON, Mass. -  The Wheaton College Men's Basketball team held on to defeat the visiting Hawks of Roger Williams University, 75-68, this evening at Emerson Gymnasium. The Lyons improve to 4-1 before the Thanksgiving break, while Roger Williams drops to 2-3.
 
Wheaton kicked off the first half by building a 19-1 lead over the Hawks behind points from all 5 starters, including 6 from senior Duaka Ekwensi.  Austin Coene stopped the bleeding by sinking a three before Jeff Stockmal made a layup to bring the RWU deficit down to 13 points with 15:14 on the clock.
 
Stockmal then pulled the visitors within 11 points, as he hit a three with 12:39 to go. Wheaton responded in a big way though, eventually gaining their largest lead of the evening at 24 points after a 13-0 run that ended with a Nick Geremia layup at 7:25.
 
The Hawks grabbed the last two layups of the half, but Wheaton still maintained a hefty lead of 20 points as they headed into the locker room for intermission.
 
Ekwensi, who led all players on the court with 25 points, hit a layup to bring the hosts' lead back up to 18 with 11:37 to go, but Roger Williams would use the next ten minutes to slowly chip the gap away to just 6 points. Coene hit a free throw with 1:25 on the clock for a 67-61 score and Rich Pugliese made a three to bring the Hawks within 5, but free throws sealed the deal in the end for Wheaton, 75-68.
 
Ekwensi grabbed 7 rebounds to go along with his 25 points, as Coene led the way for the visitors with a 20 point/10 rebound double-double.
 
David Carbonello chipped in with 18 points and three rebounds, going 5-11 from the field, as Nick Geremia, Riley Tetreault and Alex DuBrow notched 10, 8 and 6 points, respectively.
 
- Release courtesy of the Wheaton College Sports Information Department