BRISTOL, R.I. — The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball suffered its first Commonwealth Coast Conference loss of the season after a 72-81 setback to Wentworth Institute of Technology Thursday evening.
 
The Hawks struck first with back-to-back steals by Austin Coene (Tyngsborough, Mass.) on the Leopards' first two possessions leading to a pair of RWU layups. Coene and Drew Hart (Cheshire, Conn.) combined for the first ten points for Roger Williams, helping RWU jump out to a 10-4 lead.
 
Trailing 11-17 with 14:15, the Leopards would score on its first shot of each of their next seven possessions, turning a six-point deficit into a seven-point lead. Wentworth's shooting prowess would be a theme for the game, as the Leopard finished the half at a 53.1 percent clip from the field including 50 percent from downtown. The Leopards led by as many as 11 in the first half en route to a ten-point halftime lead (43-33).
 
A free throw by Zach Bergeon (Litchfield, N.H.) two and a half minutes into the second gave Wentworth its largest lead up to the point, a 48-35 lead. However halfway through the period, Roger Williams mounted a comeback, using an 8-0 run to pull within four (49-53) with 11:22 left. However, Wentworth rolled back to a double-digit lead with a layup and back-to-back treys to go back up by ten.
 
Roger Williams managed to make it a six-point game with 6:37 left, but a 12-0 Leopard run over the next five minutes put Wentworth up 77-59 with just under two minutes left to essentially put the game out of reach.
 
Gavin Keough (Dunstable, Mass.) finished with 25 points and seven rebound to lead Wentworth. Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) had 17 points and five rebounds with Noah Bice (Woodacre, Calif.) adding 15 points and five assists off the bench.
 
Coene led all with 38 points and four steals on the evening for RWU. JJ Pfohl (Trumbull, Conn.) finished with ten points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Jake Heaton (Shelton, Conn.) went for 11 points and five boards.
 
On Saturday, both teams will be on the road as Roger Williams (6-7, 3-1 CCC) will travel to Endicott and Wentworth (4-8, 2-2 CCC) heads to Salve Regina.