BRISTOL, R.I. – A three with 5.4 seconds remaining in the contest, allowed the Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team to down Conference of New England (CNE) opponent Nichols on Saturday afternoon in the Campus Rec Center, 70-68.
 
Roger Williams was led by Mac Annus and Ryan Higgins who tallied 21 and 17 points respectively. Annus shot 7-for-15 from the floor while Ryan Higgins knocked down three shots from long range. Nate Lopes grabbed five rebounds, with Annus and Finn Miller puling down four a piece. Miller also dished out five assists with three steals.
 
For Nichols, Simon Percy tallied 22 for the contest with five rebounds, while Jason Peters and Luke Chapman each scored 10 respectively. Oliver St. Louis had nine rebounds with Javen Flowers-Smith dishing out four assists.
 
The Bison opened the contest on an 8-0 run, before Sughrue knocked down a three to put the Hawks on the board. Nichols responded with a three of their own from Simon Percy to take regain their eight point lead, but Lopes responded for the Hawks. After a timeout, the Bison continued the hot stretch of shooting from distance, as Ethan Minarik knocked down a jumper.
 
Nichols extended their lead to as many as 16 in the half, but Roger Williams cut the deficit to 13 at the break. The Bison tallied 16 points in the paint in the half, while shooting 56.7 percent from the floor at the break, including 53.8 percent from distance, leading 43-30.
 
The Hawks came out strong in the second half scoring the first five points of the period, cutting the lead back down to eight. Nichols extended their lead back out to 12, but a pair of free throws followed by a three by Ryan Higgins cut the deficit down to seven.
 
With the Bison up five with 7:10 to go, Annus tallied four straight points for the Hawks putting Roger Williams down by one. After a jumper by Peters extended the Nichols lead to three Ryan Higgins again knocked down a three to level the score for the first time since the early portion of the game.
 
Nichols led by two with 43 seconds remaining but a foul by Percy sent miller to the line where he converted. With just over five seconds remaining in the contest, Higgins drilled a three pointer from the top of the arc to give Roger Williams a two point lead.
 
Nichols came back but a jumper by Flowers-Smith just bounced of the rim, as the Hawks secured the victory.
 
Roger Williams (12-5, 7-3 CNE) will return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7:00 pm as they take on the Leopards of Wentworth on the road. The Hawks will return to Boston for a 3:00 pm tilt against the Rams of Suffolk, before hosting Western New England in a matchup in the Campus Rec Center.