The Leopards, who were making their first CCC Tournament appearance since the 2000-01 season, entered the game as the fourth seed in the North Division and hadn’t beaten the South’s top-seeded Hawks since Jan. 21, 1999 – a span of nine previous meetings. Wentworth would come out firing on all cylinders in this one, using a 13-4 run to take a 22-14 lead with 7:43 left in the first half. During the run, Prezzie-Blue, who was a perfect 7-for-7 in the first half, scored seven points. Roger Williams would trim the lead to five on a three-pointer by senior guard Chris Cormier (Trumbull, Conn.), but back-to-back baskets by freshman guard Todd Doyle (Mystic, Conn.) and Prezzie-Blue upped the lead to nine.
The Hawks would close the gap to five with 3:29 left in the half, but four more points by Prezzie-Blue and a free throw by senior forward Frankie Hall (Boston, Mass.) pushed the lead to 33-23 and Wentworth would lead, 35-27, at the half. Over the first 20:00, Wentworth shot 16-for-24 (66.7 percent), while holding its hosts to 38.2 percent (13-for-34).
Roger Williams opened the second half on a 10-2 run and tied the game at 37-all on a three-pointer by Cormier with 15:46 left. The Hawks weren’t done, though, as they extended their run to 20-5 and led by seven (47-40) with 13:41 left in the game. During the run, Cormier had six points, with both his baskets coming from long range.
Wentworth battled back and would eventually cut the lead to two (51-49) on a pair of free throws by Doyle with 9:38 left. After the Hawks increased the lead to six, freshman guard Jeff Cappa (Waterbury, Conn.) came off the bench to bury a three, which would make the score 55-52 in favor of Roger Williams. On the ensuing possession, the Hawks would miss a jump shot and Hall would convert on the other end to make it a one-point game. Prezzie-Blue would hit a layup with 5:52 left on a pass from Hall to give Wentworth a short-lived lead of one point (56-55).
The game would go back-and-forth and was tied at 61-all with just over 2:00 left when the Leopards would score four straight points to go up 65-61 with under a minute left. A missed jumper by Cormier was followed up by sophomore forward Geoff Barringer (Fairfield, Conn.), who made the second chance basket and was fouled. After converting the three-point play, Roger Williams trailed by one (65-64), with 37 ticks left.
Sophomore Ed Bolton (Silver Springs, Md.) was fouled with 26 seconds left, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Barranger got the rebound and, after a time out to set up a play, junior forward Brandon Parrish (Lincoln, R.I.) found Cormier, who would bury a three-pointer with 12.2 seconds left and give the Hawks a 67-65 lead.
The Leopards called a time out after the made basket to re-group and set up a play. Prezzie-Blue pulled up from the left side and hit nothing but net from 21 feet out with 1.4 seconds left. Roger Williams inbounded the ball and threw up a desperation shot, which fell short, clinching the upset win for Wentworth.
Prezzie-Blue would go 11-for-14 from the floor, including 2-for-2 from three-point land, while grabbing seven rebounds and three steals. Doyle connected on 6-for-10 shots from the floor, en route to a 14-point night. Despite fouling out, freshman forward Weonard Bynes (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored six points, grabbed eight rebounds, and blocked three shots. For the game, Wentworth would shoot 57.4 percent from the floor.
Roger Williams, which shot 45.3 percent from the floor for the game, was led by Barranger, who connected on 10 of his 14 field goal attempts for 22 points, to go along with seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Cormier was 7-for-14 from the floor – including 4-for-9 from behind the arc – and scored 18 points.
With the win, Wentworth snaps a seven-game losing streak and improves to 10-15 on the season, reaching the 10-win plateau for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The Leopards will also be making their first trip to the CCC semifinal round since the 1998-99 season when the take to the floor at Endicott Thursday night. The Gulls defeated the Leopards twice this season. Roger Williams sees its season come to an end with a 12-14 record.
At Bristol, R.I. (Campus Recreation Center) WENTWORTH 68, ROGER WILLIAMS 67 WENTWORTH (10-15) Sherrad Prezzie-Blue 11-14 2-3 26; Todd Doyle 6-10 2-2 14; Jason DaCosta 2-6 3-3 7; Weonard Bynes 2-5 2-2 6; Frankie Hall 2-4 1-2 5; Bryan Gaine 2-2 0-0 4; Ed Bolton 1-5 0-1 3; Jeff Cappa 1-1 0-0 3; Gil Ward 0-0 0-0 0; Rob Fernandes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-47 10-13 68. ROGER WILLIAMS (12-14) Geoff Baranger 10-14 2-4 22; Chris Cormier 7-14 0-1 18; Mike Woolley 3-10 0-0 9; William Barrett 4-10 0-0 8; Brandon Parrish 3-6 0-1 6; Ryan McGinn 2-4 0-0 4; Ryan McGovern 0-2 0-0 0; Conrad Griffin 0-0 0-0 0; Ben Camobreco 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 29-64 2-6 67. Wentworth..................... 35 33 - 68 Roger Williams................ 27 40 - 67 3-point goals-Wentworth 4-8 (Sherrad Prezzie-Blue 2-2; Ed Bolton 1-2; Jeff Cappa 1-1; Weonard Bynes 0-1; Jason DaCosta 0-1; Todd Doyle 0-1), Roger Williams 7-23 (Chris Cormier 4-9; Mike Woolley 3-9; Ben Camobreco 0-1; William Barrett 0-4). Fouled out--Wentworth-Weonard Bynes, Roger Williams-None. Rebounds-Wentworth 32 (Weonard Bynes 8), Roger Williams 25 (Geoff Baranger 7). Assists-Wentworth 15 (Frankie Hall 7), Roger Williams 20 (William Barrett 7). Total fouls-Wentworth 14, Roger Williams 14. A-500 2006 Commonwealth Coast Conference Quarterfinals; Wentworth advances to face Endicott in the semifinals on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., in Beverly, Mass.