BEVERLY, Mass. – The No. 6 seeded Roger Williams University men's basketball team saw their season come to a close on Tuesday evening, dropping their Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament Quarterfinal matchup to No. 3 Endicott, 76-67.
The Hawks were powered by freshman Philip Sughrue (Winchester, Mass.) who tallied 18 points on a 7-8 shooting night from the field. Sughreue also pulled down seven rebounds, with a pair of assists and a steal. Mac Annus (Belmont, Mass.) also added double digit scoring for the Hawks, scoring 16 points with three rebounds, providing added value on the defensive end with two blocks and a steal. Nate Lopes (Scituate, Mass.) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and dished out three assists leading Roger Williams.
Endicott's Mark Barrett led the way with 27 points with a 66.7 field goal percentage and nine rebounds. Jalen Echevarria tallied 20 of the Gulls points, dishing out four assists. Barrett also had a pair of blocks and steals.
After Sughrue opened things up with a three pointer, Dillion Grant was able to score off a rebound. Jeff Hill followed that with a layup a few possessions later, to give Endicott the lead. Endicott used a pair of threes to bring their lead to 14-7 with 12:02 remaining in the opening half. The Hawks used a jumper by John Ah Kao (Dumont, N.J.) to cut the lead to five, before Barret and Echevarria combined to extend the lead back out to nine.
The Gulls extended their lead to as many as 16 with 3:07 remaining in the opening half before, the Hawks were able to cut the lead down to 12 heading into the halftime break, 39-27.
Roger Williams got off to a hot start in the second half cutting the lead down to as little as four with 14:29 remaining in the matchup. Barrett and Vitko combined to extend the lead out to nine. A three by Will MacDonald (York, Maine) then cut the lead down to six with 11:57. Endicott would not allow the Hawks to come closer through the final 12 minutes of play, with the Gulls going on to advance to the CCC Semifinals.
Roger Williams (13-13, 10-8 CCC) concludes their season with a .500 record, reaching the CCC Quarterfinals for the 13th consecutive conference season. Not missing a CCC Tournament since 2009-10.
