WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Roger Williams University men's basketball team defeated Hartford on Wednesday at Chase Family Arena, 80-77, against their Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) foe, going 2-0 on the season against the Hawks.
 
Mac Annus (Belmont, Mass.) had 25 points, with four rebounds, two assists, a pair of blocks and two steals. Philip Sughrue (Winchester, Mass.) and Finn Miller (Stamford, Conn.) both had 14 points, with Sughrue pulling down a team-high eight rebounds, with three assists, while Miller dished out a team high four assists.
 
Roger Williams scored the first points of the game in their opening possession with Miller finishing on a layup attempt, following a pass from Sughrue. After Hartford, followed with eight points, to take an 8-2 lead, Annus downed a three with 16:39 remaining in the opening half to cut the lead back down to three.
 
Hartford then outscored Roger Williams, 19-14 over a span of 10:18 to take a 27-19 lead with 5:50 remaining in the opening half. Roger Williams then cut the lead down to one with a three from Sughrue, but Hartford expanded the lead back out over the final 3:21, leading by four heading into the break, 41-37.
 
Roger Williams then picked up their first lead since the beginning of the game with 16:49 remaining when Annus knocked down a three before Miller finished a driving layup to take a three-point advantage. Hartford took a five-point lead after Stephen Akwiwu finished on a driving layup, with 10:24 remaining.
 
Roger Williams retook the lead after back-to-back threes before going on a 7-1 run over a 1:31 span beginning with 4:52 remaining. Hartford closed the gap down to two with 19 seconds remaining, but were unable to overcome Roger Williams.
 
Roger Williams (10-10, 7-4 CCC) will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Gordon at 3:00 pm.  The Hawks will then host Endicott on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 pm in the Campus Rec Center.