DUDLEY, Mass. – Playing in their first game in over a month, the Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team easily shook off the rust and snapped a 16-game skid against Nichols College with a 97-87 win over the Bison Saturday afternoon.
 
Hawk Highlights
Eli Harris: 27 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Mac Annus: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Drew Hart: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
John Ah Kao: 12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
Will MacDonald: 13 points, 10 rebounds
 
For The Opponents
Tahmeen Dupree: 28 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals
Matt Alectus: 19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 4 steals
Matt Morrow: 17 points, 11 rebounds, 1 block
Jason O'Regan: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
 
How It Happened
Drew Hart (Cheshire, Conn.) led off the scoring for the contest with a three-pointer on the Hawks' second possession of the game. From there, Roger Williams managed to hold on to the lead for the majority of the first half. RWU's lead hovered in the three to seven-point range for most of the period. Eli Harris (Falmouth, Mass.) helped give Roger Williams its first double-digit lead of the half, putting the Hawks up 39-29 with just over four minutes to play in the opening period. His basket would be part of a 9-0 run that would give Roger Williams a 45-30 lead, but the Hawks would take a 47-38 lead going into halftime.
 
As was to be expected, Nichols continued to climb their way into the game, chipping away at the nine-point deficit. Matt Alectus (Hollywood, Fla.) managed to finally give Nichols its first lead of the game since the opening basket with a steal and a drive seven minutes in to make it a 61-60 lead for the Bison.
 
His basket was part of a 10-0 Bison run that allowed Nichols to take a 68-60 lead halfway into the second quarter. A layup by Jaekwon Spencer (Bristol, Conn.) later put the Bison up 72-62, their first double-digit lead of the entire game. However the Hawks would not be deterred, rolling off an 11-0 run capped off by a pair of Harris free throws to put RWU up by one.
 
Nichols managed to come back and take a one-point lead with just over six minutes remaining (76-75), yet an 8-0 run for Roger Williams helped regain their lead and put the team up by seven with three minutes to play. The Hawks managed to hold off Nichols' final push and come away with their first win in well over a month and hand Nichols their second loss of the season.
 
What's Next
Roger Williams (6-3, 3-1 CCC): Wednesday, January 12 vs. Salve Regina @ 7:30pm
Nichols (11-2, 4-2 CCC): Wednesday, January 12 at Endicott @ 7:30pm