Seahawks top Hawks to clinch fifth seed

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University senior William Smiley (Saunderstown, R.I.) posted his team-leading fifth double-double of the season to lead the Seahawks to a 73-60 win over Roger Williams University men's basketball in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Rodgers Recreation Center.

Smiley, recognized prior to the contest for playing his final regular season home game with the Seahawks, scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half on six of nine from the floor. He started the scoring with a layup at 18:14.

A 3-pointer from freshman Josh McCourt (Lincoln, R.I.) gave the visitors their only lead of the game, 11-9, at the 12:45 mark. The next six minutes featured a couple of tie scores and Seahawk leads, but none larger than four points.

Freshman Brenden Fowler (No. Attleboro, Mass.) had a couple of baskets during that time for Salve Regina while sophomore Ryan Palumbo (Warwick, R.I.) kept it close for Roger Williams with three baskets in the span.

With just under seven minutes left in the first half, Salve Regina went on a 16-8 run to open a 10-point cushion. Junior Jeff Bielefeld (Littleton, Mass.) made all four of his free throw attempts and added a layup while Isiah Pringle (Queens, N.Y.) and Smiley contributed two buckets apiece.

Hawk senior Mike Engemann (Red Bank, N.J.) brought the deficit under double digits with a layup in the final minute.

Junior Joshua Hohlfelder (Noank, Conn.) started the second half with his second basket of the game before Roger Williams closed within one (43-42) following its 11-2 run. James Lecardi (Fair Haven, N.J.) had back-to-back layups, Mike Igoe (Lexington, Mass.) had a jumper, and Engemann capped the run with a 3-pointer.

Salve Regina scored the next five points including two layups from Fowler. When Palumbo's three-point play at 9:11 made it a two-point game (52-50 for Salve Regina), the Seahawks then outscored the Hawks, 12-0, in less than three minutes. All but two points during that run came in the paint. Salve Regina had its largest lead, 64-50, following Smiley's layup at 6:18.

Roger Williams made a 10-0 run capped again by an Engemann 3-pointer at 1:43. Pringle and Smiley made free throws down the stretch while Fowler had the last field goal with his layup at seven seconds left.

Bielefeld also had a double-double, his fourth of the season, with a game-high 13 rebounds and 11 points. Smiley snared a dozen boards as Salve Regina out-rebounded Roger Williams, 39-29. Pringle shared game-high scoring honors with Palumbo; both players scored 22 points.

Igoe and Engemann had 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Roger Williams.

Salve Regina clinches the No. 5 seed and travels to Quincy, Mass., on Tuesday evening for a quarterfinal date with Eastern Nazarene College. The Seahawks, two-time finalists in recent years, won it all in 2011 as the No. 5 seed with three road playoff victories.

Roger Williams earns the No. 7 seed and travels to Wenham, Mass., for its quarterfinal match with Gordon College on Tuesday.