BRISTOL, R.I. — The Roger Williams University men's basketball team led by as many as 23 points in the second half, but the Owls of UMaine-Presque Isle cut the lead to as little as four, as the Hawks held on for a 76-69 victory, Saturday in the Campus Rec Center.
Roger Williams was led by
Will MacDonald (York, Maine) who tallied 17 points with six rebounds, with a pair of assists.
Philip Sughrue (Winchester, Mass.) had 15 points with eight boards, and five assists, Sughrue also had a steal and block on the defensive end.
Mac Annus (Belmont, Mass.) also tallied 15 points and had three steals and a block defensively.
For the Owls Gilbert Jean Mendez had 22 points on a 9-17 shooting performance with 14 rebounds for a double-double, he also had six assists on the day with three steals and a block. KJ Minter also scored in double digits, scoring 12 points, with nine rebounds just short of a double-double and David Ellington had 10 points in the matchup.
UMaine-Presque Isle had 52 points in the paint to the Hawks 40, while Roger Williams won the fast break battle 18-14.
MacDonald got things started with a layup in the opening sequence of the day, to give the Hawks a 2-0 advantage. After over two minutes of scoreless play, Sughrue then nailed a three-pointer taking an early 5-0 lead.
Holding an 8-0 lead after Sughrue hit back-to-back shots, Griffin Guerrette knocked down a three-point jumper of his own to take cut the lead to five. The Owls overtook the lead after Brice Lawrence scored on a fast break layup with 9:30 remaining in the first half. The Hawks kept it close before using a layup by
Nate Mullen (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) to spark a 17-0 run over the final 6:09 of the opening half to take a 41-25 lead into the halftime break.
The Hawks were able to take a lead by as much as 23 points with 17:35 remaining in regulation, but UMaine-Presque Isle were able to outscore Roger Williams, 44-35, in the second half, but the Hawks held on for the seven-point victory.
UMaine-Presque Isle (1-7, 0-1 NAC) will face Lesley on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 1:30 pm in their final game before the New Year. The Owls will then return to North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play on Friday, Jan. 6 against SUNY Cobleskill to start the 2023 parts of their schedule before facing SUNY Delhi on Saturday, Jan. 7.
Roger Williams (6-2, 3-0 CCC) are off until Friday, Dec. 30 at 1 pm for a matchup against Springfield at the Springfield College Invitational. They will then play on Saturday, Dec. 31 in their second game of the Invitational.
