BRISTOL, R.I. – Wentworth Institute of Technology utilized a late run to break away from the Roger Williams University Men's Basketball and come away with a 56-40 win Saturday afternoon.
The Hawks fall into a tie for fifth place in the Commonwealth Coast Conference at 8-8 and 12-11 overall with two games to play. Wentworth improves to 11-3 in the conference (15-7 overall) and now claims sole possession of second place in the CCC. The win also assures the Black & Gold of finishing no lower than fourth when the regular season ends next Saturday and Wentworth will host, for the third straight season, a CCC Quarterfinal game on February 21.
Subpar shooting from both teams plagued the first half of play, as both teams shot under 40% in the period. Roger Williams managed to go 8-of-21 from the field (38.1%) while Wentworth connected on seven of 29 attempts (24.1%). Both squads went into the break tied at 20.
The Hawks opened the half with six straight points on a pair of layups by Pat Flanagan (Somerville, Mass.) and a jumper by Mike Engemann (Red Bank, N.J.). Wentworth would not score its first points until nearly five minutes into the half, with John-Michael Fragnoli (Scotia, N.Y.) putting in a jumper to make it a 26-22 game in favor of the Hawks.
From there, the Hawks would maintain the lead for the majority of the half. Nico Donato put in a layup at the 9:15 mark to tie the game at 30 but RWU came back with a jumper by James LeCardi (Fair Haven, N.J.) to go back on top.
Donato put in another shot to tie the game, followed by a three by Corey Therriault (Auburn, Maine) to give the Leopards their first lead of the half. Therriault's three would be the first of four consecutive treys for Wentworth as part of a 14-4 run that helped the Leopards build a 46-36 advantage with three minutes to play.
The Hawks would be forced to foul but Wentworth connected on eight of their final nine free throws to ice the game and come away with the win.
Fragnoli paced the Leopards with 10 points and 13 rebounds, while Therriault and Donato added eight points apiece.
Both teams are back in action Tuesday night; Wentworth is at Gordon while Roger Williams is at Western new England.
(Release Courtesy of Roger Williams Sports Information)
