WESTFIELD, Mass.—The Roger Williams Men's Basketball team defeated Westfield State University 70-63 in a non-conference matchup at the Woodward Center on a Sunday afternoon.

Austin Coene (Tyngsborough, Mass.) totaled 29 points, which included a steal and a breakaway layup with 11:13 left in the first half.

RWUs' Eli Harris (Falmouth, Mass.) helped out his teammates by chipping in five points to take the lead 26-23.

JJ Pfohl (Trumbull, Conn.) then hit a jumper in the paint and then a three shortly after to add to RWUs' score 34-24 with 2.22 left in regulation.

However, with 34 seconds left, Westfield States' Moody Bey (Springfield, Mass.) came up with a steal and a quick two points off of a fast break assisted by Jauch Green Jr. (Hartford, Conn.) to keep the game close 35-30.

With the score being 37-30 going into the second half, Westfield State came out in a full court press, which only worked for a short period of time when Owls' Malik Pouncy (Mattapan, Mass.) acquired a steal that lead to another two points producing a close 46-44 ball game.

With 9:48 left in the second half, Pfohl scored four points in the paint for RWU and Marcus Collins (Cambridge, Mass.) made both of his free throws to tie the game 48-48.

The Hawks then went on a streak with Junior Bryan Donovan (Gainesville, Fla.) and Coene recording a collective six points before the Owls called a timeout with 5:11 left in regulation.

Peter Mafo (Lynn, Mass.) hit a three pointer with 44 seconds left to obtain a 66-61 score but the Hawks held onto the lead to end the game with a 70-63 win.

The Hawks return to competition on January 3^rd against conference member Wentworth at 7:30 p.m.