Statistics

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Roger Williams University held on down the stretch to secure an 82-79 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball victory over the University of New England in the regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 22) at the Harold Alfond Forum.

The result, combined with others from around the league, pulled the Hawks into a three-way tie with the Nor'easters and Gordon College at 7-9 in league play. With only two postseason berths up for grabs, tiebreakers moved Gordon into the field first, leaving RWU with a sweep of UNE to claim the last line.

The hosts almost recovered from a 66-53 deficit with 11:54 to go, getting back within one possession (72-69) on a three-pointer by Siddiq Canty with 4:35 left. A pair of free throws by Alex Kravchuk at the 2:11 mark narrowed the spread to 76-74. Drew Hart bumped the Hawks' lead up to five before Jackson McCoy got a couple back for UNE with 1:21 showing (79-76).

Canty rejected Hart looking for more on the next trip, and soon McCoy was fouled collecting an offensive rebound. He made the second (79-77, 0:43), and a RWU turnover led to Canty drawing a foul, where he made the first (79-78, 0:24). UNE put JJ Pfohl at the charity stripe for the Hawks, and he calmly restored a three-point cushion (81-78, 0:18). Avery DeBrito was fouled on the ensuing drive but could only get one back for the Nor'easters (81-79, 0:11), which was negated when Bryan Donovan hit the first on the other end (0:10).

While UNE lost the ball on the way up for a potential game-tying trey, the Hawks missed both freebies that followed with 2.3 seconds still on the clock. The hosts controlled the uncontested rebound, but the 3/4-court heave at the buzzer fell short.

Hart had a double-double of 18 points and 10 caroms to pace Roger Williams (15-10). Eli Harris also totaled 18 points, and Rich Pugliese added 12.

Even though the Nor'easters scored 26 points off 24 Hawks turnovers, the visitors compensated by finishing with a 31-23 edge in free throws made.

For UNE, which sees its year conclude with a record of 13-12, Kravchuk and Canty went for 27 and 20 points, respectively, while each secured eight rebounds. DeBrito supported with 14 points. A contribution of eight 2nd-half points came from the team's lone senior in McCoy, who wraps his career of 88 outings with 594 points and 324 boards.

The Nor'easters held the edge in the early-going, posting an 11-2 run to take a 23-14 lead midway through the 1st stanza. But Roger Williams answered with 10 straight and later tacked on a 14-4 stretch to pad the cushion up to 38-31. The difference was 42-38 at the break.

UNE's 7-9 conference ledger is the best to not qualify for the playoffs since the CCC reduced from 14 to 10 teams in 2011-12.