Statistics

BRISTOL, R.I. -- Austin Coene dropped in 35 points as No.4 Roger Williams University held off No.5 University of New England by an 88-81 margin in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Basketball Championship on Tuesday night (Feb. 20) at the Campus Recreation Center.

The Hawks (18-8) move on to face top-seeded Nichols College (a 100-68 winner over Western New England) in the semifinals on Thursday [Interactive Bracket]. The Nor'easters conclude their year with a record of 12-14.

Coene (CCC 1st Team) went 13-of-24 from the floor to reach part of his double-double; the other was a game-high 13 rebounds. Nick Marini (CCC 2nd Team) shot 8-for-12 in the contest to register 20 points while dishing out six assists.

Roger Williams connected at a 48-percent clip on field-goal tries, finishing with a 34-point scoring advantage inside the arc (58-40 FG, 21-5 FT).

UNE had five players reach double digits, topped by 19 points from Gavin Dibble. Daron Hoges, Jr. (CCC 3rd Team) added 14 points and Ryan Matthews tallied 11, while Jackson McCoy and Avery Debrito went for 10 apiece.

The Nor'easters canned 12 three-pointers to out-score their opponent by 27 from long range. The visitors also had an edge on the glass (47-40), led by seven rebounds from both Drew Patno and Alex Kravchuk.

The teams traded early runs (RWU 14-2, UNE 13-0) before the Hawks wrapped up the 1st half with a 28-11 stretch to gain a 46-30 lead at intermission. UNE could only find the range on 3-of-17 attempts from deep in the period.

Coene began the 2nd frame with a layup to give RWU its largest cushion of the match, but the Nor'easters stormed right back with a 19-4 spurt that reduced the deficit to just three (54-51). Dibble had eight in the span.

That was as close as UNE would get, however. The majority of the remaining 13 minutes was played in single digits, with Coene tossing in 18 points to keep the Nor'easters from catching up.

In six February games, the Nor'easters racked up 84 treys towards the national Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge. Fans can still join the team's PLEDGE IT campaign for the remainder of the month, with all the funds supporting the American Cancer Society.