BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team used a strong shooting performance to defeat Springfield 82-67 Friday evening in their season opener and first game since February 2020.
 
Hawk Highlights
Mac Annus: 24 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block
Drew Hart: 15 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 steals
John Ah Kao: 10 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal
Charles Mukweva: 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals
 
For The Opponents
Collin Lindsay: 19 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Zeke Blauner: 17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Daryl Costa: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Casey Lane: 5 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists
 
How It Happened
Roger Williams shot 51.8 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range to help down the Pride in the game.
 
The early part of the first half was characterized by both sides trading baskets throughout the game. Zeke Blauner (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) opened the game with a layup before Mac Annus (Belmont, Mass.) drained a three for RWU's first points of the game. This would be trend of the contest for the first 10 minutes of play, with neither side leading by more than three points over that stretch.  
 
Tre Hodge (Springfield, Mass.) buried a jumped to make it 20-19 with 9:34 left in the half. From there, the Pride held the lead for the following six minutes until another Annus trey knotted the game at 33. Then with just under two minutes to play, Charles Mukweva (Harare, Zimbabwe) converted an and-one tip in to put RWU up by three. That would help spark a 9-2 run to help RWU go into halftime up 42-35.
 
In the second half, Springfield scored on their first three possessions in the opening minute to pull within one. Roger Williams responded with an 8-0 run, capped off by another Annus three to go up 52-43, the Hawks' largest lead up to that point. A layup by Justin Tedeschi (Smithfield, R.I.) with 11:06 to play put Roger Williams up by 11 (60-49). From there, the Hawks maintained their double-digit lead the rest of the way en route to the 15-point win.
 
What's Next
Roger Williams (1-0): Wednesday, November 17 vs. Connecticut College @ 6:00pm
Springfield (0-2): Wednesday, November 17 vs. Eastern Conn. St. @ 5:30pm