BRISTOL, R.I. – Junior Andrew Wasik (Gainesville, Fla.) scored a game-high 18 points to go along with four assists to help the Roger Williams University men's basketball team pick up a 53-47 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in a Commonwealth Coast Conference Saturday afternoon.
The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Hawks who improve to 5-8 overall and 3-3 in CCC play while the Leopards see their two-game win streak come to a halt, falling to 6-7 (4-2).
Roger Williams held Wentworth off the scoreboard for the first 10:03 and took a 13-0 lead. Wasik would score seven of his team's 13 points during that stretch. Sophomore Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) put the Leopards on the scoreboard, however the Hawks scored the next five points to take an 18-2 lead with 8:48 left.
The Hawks' lead swelled to as many as 17 (26-9) with 2:36 left before Ganley would score four straight points to make it 26-13. Wasik's layup with five ticks left gave Roger Williams a 28-13 lead at the break.
As cold as the Leopards' shooting was in the first half (20 percent), the Black & Gold used a 16-3 run to cut a 17-point deficit to four on a Ganley layup with 11:28 left in the contest. Roger Williams pushed the lead to nine, however a three pointer from senior Kyle Romich (Groton, Mass.) and a basket from sophomore Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) made it 40-36 with 9:45 left.
Sophomore Alex Puzone (North Haven, Conn.) connected on a jumper nearly two minutes later before senior Ian Therriault's (Auburn, Maine) three-point play made it 42-39 with 7:24 left. Ganley brought the Leopards within one but Roger Williams responded with a 7-0 run as four points came from Wasik and a junior Josh Syska (Peabody, Mass.) trifecta with 3:26 left made it a 49-41 game.
Junior Dan DeVaux (Wethersfield, Conn.) brought Wentworth within four with 42 seconds left, however that was as close as the Leopards would come.
Wasik was the only Hawk to score in double figures while senior Trevor Fahmy (Bedford, N.H.) had a dozen rebounds. The Hawks held the Leopards to 30.5 percent shooting from the floor and owned a 43-32 rebounding edge.
Ganley led the Leopards with 14 points while Romich added 11. DeVaux finished with eight and Therriault had five points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Both teams continue CCC play on Thursday as Roger Williams is at Curry and Wentworth hosts defending league champion Endicott.
