BRISTOL, R.I. — The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team maintained its hold on second place in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with an 88-53 victory over Curry College Tuesday evening.
 
The win for Roger Williams (8-7, 5-1 CCC) sets up a #1/#2 showdown on Saturday afternoon against Gordon College, who is currently undefeated in the CCC at 5-0.
 
With the help of six points from Jake Heaton (Shelton, Conn.), the Hawks jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead. The Colonels struggled from the field, hitting only one of their first eight shots of the game. A Rich Pugliese (Middlebury, Conn.) three helped extend the RWU lead to 11 (14-3) less than five minutes into the game.
 
Alex Stein (Mount Olive, N.J.) closed the gap to six with a three-pointer with 10:30 left in the half (13-19). However, Eli Harris (Falmouth, Mass.) knocked down a pair of threes as part of an 11-0 run to give the Hawks a 17-point advantage.
 
RWU would shoot 51.6 percent from the field while holding Curry to only 7-of-34 shooting in the first half en route to a 47-20 halftime lead.
 
The Hawks continued to pour it on early in the second half, beginning the period on a 13-1 run for a commanding 37-point lead. Roger Williams kept up the offensive pace in the second half, going 16-of-32 in the half to finish over 50 percent from the field in the game. Curry shot slightly better at 28.6 percent in the half but still finished at only 25 percent shooting in the game.
 
Five Hawks finished in double figures including Austin Coene (Tyngsborough, Mass.) with 18 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Heaton, Drew Hart (Cheshire, Conn.) and JJ Pfohl (Trumbull, Conn.) all finished with 11 points with Harris adding 12 points and eight boards.
 
Jared Thorpe-Johnson (Dorchester, Mass.) led Curry with 19 points. Dwayne Boothe (Jamaica, N.Y.) added six points, three steals, and seven rebounds off the bench.
 
Curry (1-13, 0-5 CCC) will look for its for conference win Thursday against the University of New England.