BRISTOL, R.I. – The Western New England men's basketball team led by 11 points at half time but were stunned in their second straight CCC game in the second half, dropping the contest to the hosting Roger Williams Hawks by a final score of 74-66. 

Records:

• Western New England: 12-13 (9-9 CCC)
• Roger Williams: 14-9 (11-7 CCC)

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears, who have a chance to host a quarterfinal playoff game on Tuesday night, needed a win and some help from the CCC in order to receive the home game. WNE needed to take a win back to Springfield with them this afternoon as the hosting Roger Williams Hawks looked to capture their own home game in the quarterfinal round with a win. Western New England got off to a quick start as Tim Restall put the Golden Bears ahead early 2-0. The teams would go back and forth in the early goings with Gavin Green coming up big for Western New England, making the start. Western New England would pull together a 6-0 run as Andrew Byfield, Brian Geitner, and Jake Harrison would all come through for points on the mini run to give WNE a 16-9 lead. Western New England's lead would get as big as eight with 8:15 to play in the first half after Alex Sikoski nailed a 15-foot jump shot to give WNE a 25-17 lead. The Golden Bears saw Roger Williams get within five with 52 seconds to play when Mac Annus rattled home a layup, though two big three-point shots, both by Sikorski would send the Golden Bears from a five-point lead to an 11-point lead within 18 seconds to end the first half. WNE took the 42-31 lead into the break. Sikorski led the way with 12 points in the half for Western New England while Greene poured in eight while grabbing four rebounds. Eight points from Mac Annus would be the team best in the half for RWU as the Hawks shot 43.8% from the field. WNE shot 59.4% from the field in the first half while draining four three-point shots. 

The red-hot shooting from the Golden Bears looked like it was going to carry over into the second half as WNE took their biggest lead of the game at 14 points when Geitner splashed a three-point shot just 1:18 into the second half. Roger Williams would slowly make their comeback run to get back into the game as both teams looked to host a home playoff game in the upcoming CCC tournament. Drew Hart would rain in a three ball to bring the Hawks deficit to 12 points, grabbing the Hawks first 11 points of the first half before Nate Lopes would connect on free-throws for the Hawks to cut Western New England's 14 point lead to start the second half to just a six point lead with five minutes of elapsed time in the second half. Roger Williams sparked a 14-0 run on Western New England to take their first lead since the opening minutes of the first half. Mac Annus would drill a three-point shot to give RWI the 51-50 lead while Drew Hart would convert at the rim to extend the Hawks lead to three. Greene would cut the Hawks run when he collected a pass from Brian Berritto and finished with his right hand to send WNE down by just one. Restall would tie the game with 9:47 to play in the contest on a made layup to even the score at 57.  While the shooting of the Golden Bears cooled off from the first to the second half, the Hawks would continue to challenge Western New England as Eli Harris knocked in a three from the right side corner with 8:30 remaining to go ahead by three points. Western New England would come around to re-take the lead at 61-60 on a made layup from Sikorski with 6:35 to play. With 3:08 to play, Harris would stike again from distance for Roger Williams, knocking down the triple to give RWU a four-point lead. Western New England would be unable to match the big splashes of the Hawks as down the stretch Drew Hart would convert a big layup with 1:27 to play to give RWU their four-point lead again. WNE would go ice cold from the floor in the final 5:28 of the game, making no field goals and just three free throws down the stretch, falling to the Hawks of Roger Williams for the second time this season by a score of 74-66. Roger Williams will host a quarterfinal game with the win on Tuesday night. 

Inside the Arc:

• WNE would come away with just nine field goals in the second half, compared to Roger Williams' 15. WNE would shoot 33.3% from the field, collecting just two three-points shots on ten attempts, and converting just four of nine free throws.
• Western New England turned the ball over ten times in the 20 minutes of play in the second half. 
• RWU splashed six three-point shots in the half, while Drew Hart collected 19 of his 26 total points in the final 20 minutes of play, leading all scorers. 
• Alex Sikorski led Western New England with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Tim Restall finished the night with eight points and 14 rebounds, five offensively. Brian Geitner (11 points) and Gavin Greene (10 points) also finished in double figures for Western New England. 
• The Golden Bears outrebounded Roger Williams 41-30, though had double the number of turnovers as the Hawks. 
• Roger Williams outscored Western New England 43-23 in the second half. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The two teams will meet again from Bristol, R.I. on Tuesday, February 22 with Western New England finishing as the #6 seed in the CCC tournament and Roger Williams collecting the #3 seed with their win this afternoon.