Despite losing the lead in the final seconds of the game and missing a chance to win in regulation, the Hawks still started the overtime period full of confidence. That swagger showed on the court, as the Royal Blue and Gold scored the first nine points of the overtime period, jumping out quickly to a 70-61 lead. The Hawks got huge baskets from senior guard Chris Cormier (Trumbull, CT), sophomore guard Ben Camobreco (Duxbury, CT) and Baranger.
With the score 61-58, the Pilgrims had a chance to send the game into overtime. Freshman guard Billy Barrett (Fairfield, CT) had just hit two free throws, however Pilgrim junior guard Patrick Quinn (Holbrook, NY) wasted no time, hitting a three point shot with 17 seconds remaining in the game. The Hawks had one last shot but couldn’t get any offense generated.
Roger Williams had five players reach double figures, led by Baranger on the inside. Joining him was Barrett with 12, Camobreco with 11, Cormier with 11 and freshman forward Mike Woolley (Seattle, WA) with 10.
New England College had two players score in double figures led by Ryan Jaziri (Norwich, CT) with 21 points and Quinn chipped in with 20.
The first half was on dominated by the Pilgrims. The Hawks couldn’t get anything going as they shot just 31% from the field, while the Pilgrims shot 47%. The Pilgrims’ biggest lead of 13, came after a jumper with just four seconds left in the half to make it 34-21. Roger Williams finally got their first lead of the second half at 57-56 with 2:29 left in the game.
With the win the Hawks improve to 11-11 overall and 10-3 in conference play while the Pilgrims drop to 10-12 overall and 5-8 in conference play. Roger Williams returns to action on Tuesday night, February 14, when they travel to Salve Regina, tip-off is at 8:00 PM. The Pilgrims return to action on Tuesday night, February 14, when they play host to Colby-Sawyer, tip-off is at 7:30PM.