Big Second Half Sends Roger Williams Past Western New England, 81-69

Silva leads four Golden Bears in double figures with 17 points  

BRISTOL, R.I. (January 11, 2017) – The Roger Williams University men's basketball team shot 51.7% from the field in the second half and outscored Western New England University 26-14 over the final 7:44 of regulation on its way to an 81-69 victory this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Campus Rec Center.  

Top Performers
• Senior forward Daniel Silva (Seekonk, Mass.) led the Golden Bears with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point range, to go with four rebounds and one assist in 29 minutes off the bench.
• Sophomore guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) was also among Western New England's four double figure scorers with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.
• Graduate guard Luis Agrait (South Hadley, Mass.) and freshman forward Mike McCourt (Lincoln, R.I.) added ten points each. 

• Sophomore guard Austin Coene (Tyngsborough, Mass.) fueled the Roger Williams offense with a game-high 27 points on 9-of-21 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. Coene also recorded nine rebounds and three steals in his 39 minutes of action.
• Junior forward Conor O'Brien (Sharon, Mass.) posted the game's only double-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block, while junior guard Nick Marini (Loudonville, N.Y.) chipped in with 14 points, six boards, five assists and four steals.

Game Review
• Western New England got off to a strong start with Pettway, Agrait and Silva all connecting from beyond the arc early in the first half as the Golden Bears led 11-7 just under five minutes into the contest.
• A 9-0 run that freshman guard Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) capped with a jumper midway through the first half allowed Western New England to stretch its advantage to 11 (24-13).
• The Golden Bears led by as much as 14 (33-19) after Agrait knocked down a pair of free throws with 7:01 on the clock, but Roger Williams closed the gap to six (40-34) with a 15-7 run the rest of the way.
• Western New England led by the same margin (46-40) following a McCourt jumper 3:40 into the second half, before O'Brien and Marini spearheaded a 10-3 run that saw the Hawks take their first lead of the night (50-49) with 13:16 remaining.
• After a free throw by McGuire with 8:23 left knotted the score at 55-55, Coene hit a three-pointer that gave the Hawks the lead for good.
• The Golden Bears stayed within striking distance, trailing by just four (67-63) at the 5:41 mark, before an 11-0 Roger Williams run sealed the contest. Coene, Marini and O'Brien accounted for all 11 points during the run, with Coene's six leading the way.

Notes
• Western New England shot 41.4% (24-of-58) from the field, 33.3% (9-of-27) from three-point range, and 63.2% (12-of-19) from the free throw line.
• Roger Williams held a 41-32 rebounding advantage.
• Pettway scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half.

Up Next
Western New England (2-11, 1-6 CCC) returns home to host Eastern Nazarene on Saturday, while Roger Williams (12-2, 6-1 CCC) hits the road for a matchup at Gordon.