BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team split the season series against their CCC rival Endicott Gulls with a dominant 80-60 home victory.
 
Hawk Highlights
Drew Hart: 24 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal
Eli Harris: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Mac Annus: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
Nate Lopes: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 steal
 
For The Opponents
Billy Arseneault: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
Parker McLaren: 10 points, 10 rebounds, 1 block
Jalen Echevarria: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
Cameron Ray: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal
 
How It Happened
After losing 92-72 at Endicott in January, the Roger Williams Hawks returned the favor, flying past the Gulls in an 80-60 home win.
 
After trading jabs up and down the court, it was a one-point game just past the five-minute mark in the first half. For the Hawks, the newest member of the 1,000-point club, Drew Hart (Cheshire, Conn.), continued to build off his strong performance, by scoring all seven of the Hawks points while also adding two rebounds and a block through the opening portion. An Eli Harris (Falmouth, Mass.) layup at the 12:09 mark ended an Endicott 8-0 run. Nate Lopes (Scituate, Mass.) followed that up with a layup of his own, and Mac Annus (Belmont, Mass.) nailed a three to put RWU on a 7-0 run that saw the Hawks take the lead, and extend it to five just past the halfway point of the opening frame.
 
Charles Mukweva (Harare, Zimbabwe), and Jalen Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) traded free-throws with just under nine minutes left in the first half, which was then followed up by another layup from Drew Hart and a three from John Ah Kao (Dumont, N.J.) to keep the home team on an 18-3 run just past the 7:30 point. With five minutes left in the first half, Drew Hart hit a layup, and then stole an inbounds pass leading to a wide-open three pointer for the Hawks' long-time veteran, while also giving the team an 11-point lead. However, Endicott went on a late 10-2 run that saw the Hawks' lead dwindle away, and the Gulls carried a 33-32 lead into the second half.
 
A quick five points to open the frame that included a Harris three-pointer, and a Hart layup gave the Hawks a four-point lead after only a minute and a half of play. Roger Williams kept their foot on the gas as they went on an 11-2 run highlighted by a beautiful assist on another Hart layup, and a John Ah Kao dunk leading to Endicott calling a timeout with 16:20 left down 35-43.
 
The next four minutes of play was similar to the start of the first half with both teams going up and down the court trading shots until a Harris three-pointer extended the lead to 11 with 10 minutes left to play. After that, the three-ball came alive for the Hawks over the next five minutes of play with Lopes, Hart, and Annus each making threes of their own, while a Nate Lopes layup-and-1 gave the home team a 20 point lead heading into the final five minutes of play.
 
What's Next
Roger Williams (12-6, 9-4 CCC): Tuesday, February 8 at Salve Regina @ 7:30pm
Endicott (10-7, 7-5 CCC): Tuesday, February 8 vs. Curry @ 5:30pm