Wildcat senior Brian Bannister (Boston, MA) led the way for Johnson & Wales with a game-high 32 points and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds while freshman Richard DiLascio (West Nyack, NY) added a career-best 12 points with two boards and two assists in the setback for the Wildcats. Royal Blue and Gold sophomore Geoff Baranger (Fairfield, CT) added 13 points and nine boards in the win for the visiting Hawks. The two teams traded leads early in the first half before a 9-0 run by Roger Williams, capped by a lay-up by freshman Mike Woolley (Seattle, WA) at the 10:48 mark giving the Hawks a 19-11 lead. The Wildcats responded, however and cut the lead to just two on a jumper by DiLascio, making the score 34-32 late in the first half.
Roger Williams used a 5-0 run to open the second half en route to their largest lead of the game, a 58-44 lead with 9:50 left in the game on a pair of free-throws by freshman Conrad Griffin (Wiscasset, ME). The Wildcats cut the lead to single digits several times in the second half. That would not be enough, however as Roger Williams took the 73-62 win.
With the loss Johnson & Wales falls to 2-6, while Roger Williams improves to 2-6 on the season. The Hawks will return to their home court on Thursday (Jan 5) to face non-conference foe Connecticut College with the tip-off starting at 7:00 p.m.