Statistics

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Will MacDonald hit a 16-foot, fade-away jumper with 2.5 seconds left in overtime to lift Roger Williams University past the University of New England, 79-78, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball contest at Coach Beaudry's Court inside the Harold Alfond Forum on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 15).

Down two (78-76) with 40 second on the clock, MacDonald got the second of two free throws to split the gap. UNE used almost all of its shot clock but turned it over before getting an attempt up, leaving the visitors with a chance, and MacDonald redeemed himself to push the Hawks to 7-4 overall and 4-2 in league play. It was RWU's only lead in the extra session.

Drew Hart led Roger Williams with 31 points, going 12-of-23 from the field. MacDonald had 12 points and a team-best 10 rebounds. Mac Annus also scored 12, and Sean Gogolin had 10 points.

For the Nor'easters (2-12, 1-6 CCC), Alex Kravchuk continued his recent run of prolific scoring with 29 points, mostly behind 11-of-23 field goal accuracy. Drake Gavin recorded a personal high of 22 points in support. Off the bench, Michael Quinn added nine points and 10 rebounds prior to fouling out, and Zach Boulay tossed in eight points.

Kravchuk and Ric Castillo corralled eight rebounds each, helping the hosts to a 50-32 margin on the glass.

Play was fairly tight throughout, including 18 ties and 15 lead-changes. UNE scored 10 in-a-row to flip a five-point spread (19-14 to 24-19), and while the Hawks tied things at 28-all, the Nor'easters followed with a 10-2 stretch to assume the game's largest cushion (38-30) with 3:03 left in the 1st half. But the hosts didn't score the rest of the period, and were only up two at the break.

Late in the 2nd, Roger Williams put in six straight the move ahead 71-65 with 1:48 to go in regulation. Kravchuk bounced right back with a three-point play, and then Gavin knocked down a pair at the line with 57 seconds left to get within 71-70. The Hawks turned it over on their next trip, but the Nor'easters missed two looks on the following possession. Annus tacked on one freebie with 20 seconds showing (72-70), only to see Kravchuk bounce right back with a driving layup (0:08) to tie things up.

UNE was able to force overtime down the stretch in spite of 34 percent from the floor (down from 50% in the 1st) and being out-scored 13-0 in points off turnovers during the stanza.

The Nor'easter stay at home to face Salve Regina University on Monday (7 p.m.).