BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Mac Annus (Belmont, Mass.) connected on 11-of-17 shots, including 5-of-8 from behind the arc as fifth-seeded Roger Williams (12-14) defeated fourth-seeded Wentworth Institute of Technology, 84-74, in the first round game of the 2024 Commonwealth Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.

With the win the Hawks advance to the CCC Semifinals on Thursday night where they will play top-seeded Nichols.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Trailing 8-5 early, junior Jack Connell (Walpole, Mass.) made a pair of baskets sandwiched around a tip in from classmate Tyler Stewart (East Taunton, Mass.), giving Wentworth an 11-8 lead with 14:48 left. After a layup from freshman Finn Miller (Stamford, Conn.) cut the lead to one, senior Sam Goy (Derry, N.H.) drained a three and Stewart made a layup to make it 16-10.
• Back-to-back three pointers from sophomore Ty Higgins (New Marlborough, Mass.) and graduate student John Ah Kao (Dumont, N.J.) tied the game at 16-all before four straight points from sophomore Russell Dolabany (Westwood, Mass.) put the Black & Gold back on top, 20-16.
• Roger Williams used a 15-4 run, taking a 31-24 lead on a Miller jumper with 5:11 left. Stewart scored four straight points to trim the lead to 31-28 with 4:08 left but two three pointers from Annus around a layup from Stewart extended the lead to 37-30. The Leopards pulled within three at 39-36, thanks to a three from Dolabany with 54 seconds left and Stewart hit one of two free throws with two seconds left making it 39-37 at the half.
• The Hawks opened the second half on an 11-4 run, taking a 49-41 lead on an Annus jumper with 16:58 left. Using a 7-0 run, Wentworth pulled to within one and trailed, 49-48, with 12:41 left after graduate student Thomas Hacker (Averill Park, N.Y.) made a layup. Roger Williams responded with a 12-1 run to take a 61-48 lead with 8:50 left.
• Wentworth pulled to within seven (61-54) on a Stewart layup with 7:20 left but a 10-1 run extended Roger Williams' lead to 16 with 4:11 left. The Leopards got to within 10 on a pair of occasions late but could not cut the lead anymore.
• Stewart finished with 26 points on 10-for-11 shooting to go along with a career-high 22 rebounds; one shy of tying the program's single-game mark. He also had four assists and five blocked shots. Connell finished with 14 points, five rebounds, and seven assists.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

• Tonight was the 74th all-time meeting between the two teams.

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