BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University men's basketball fell 89-86, in a matchup between the last two undefeated teams in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play, dropping their matchup with Western New England on Tuesday, in the Campus Rec Center.
 
Western New England was led by Tim Restall, who had 22 points, on a night when he shot 50 percent from the floor. Jake Harrison also was a key cog in a Golden Bear offense that scored 18 second chance points, while Harrison pulled down 20 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end.
 
For the Hawks Mac Annus (Belmont, Mass.) went 9-12 from the floor with six rebounds, and two assists. Nate Lopes (Scituate, Mass.) also had six rebounds, with three steals and dished out three assists. Max Manjos (Monroe, Conn.) had 11 points in the contest, while Ty Higgins (New Marlborough, Mass.) and John Ah Kao (Dumont, N.J.)combined for 24 coming off the bench, scoring 14 and 10 respectively.
 
After Harrison scored on a jumper early in the first half, Lopes kicked the ball out to an open Manjos who drilled a three-point jumper. The Golden Bears did not need long to respond, as Andrew Byfield hit a jumper in the paint to take a 4-3 lead the following possession.
 
Trailing 10-8 at the 14:29 mark, Manjos hit another three-pointer to regain the lead, sparking a run of nine straight points on three, triples by three different players. The Hawks led by seven before Western New England was able to go a on a run that saw them overtake Roger Williams by five.
 
Both teams traded basketballs back and forth for the remainder of the second half, with the Hawks eventually taking a 42-41 advantage into the half.
 
The Hawks and Golden Bears did not have much separation in the second half, with the largest lead being held by the Hawks, 54-49 with 14:26 remaining. After Lopes knocked down a pair of shots at the line, Brian Geitner knocked down a free throw of his own to level the matchup at 78-78 to force overtime.
 
The in the extra period, the Golden Bears opened their lead to four scoring, the first two buckets of the frame, before Annus knocked down two shots from the line. The Golden Bears led by two before Gavin Greene knocked down a free throw with 23 seconds remaining to ice the matchup.
 
Roger Williams (9-5, 6-1 CCC) will be off until Saturday, Jan. 14 when they travel to Beverly, Mass. for a 3 pm tilt with the Gulls of Endicott.  The Hawks will then host Wentworth on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 pm in the Campus Rec Center.