Morton scores career-high 33 points; Hawks def. Seahawks, 80-73

BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University men's basketball team took the season series from Salve Regina University with a 80-73 win over the Seahawks Tuesday evening.

Salve Regina held the edge over Roger Williams early on, taking the first lead of the game on a layup by Isaiah Bowman (Roxbury, Mass.) followed by a Connor Costello (Southborough, Mass.) jumper.

Austin Coene (Tyngsborough, Mass.) tied the game at six with a layup at the 15:40 mark, but Salve came right back with a layup of their own to go back up by two. The Seahawks would hold on to the lead for the next six minutes until Jake LePrevost (Lee, Mass.) dropped in a basket to make it a 20-18 game in favor of Roger Williams.

Both squads traded baskets over the following four minutes until Bowman drained a three with just under six minutes left to put the Seahawks up 27-24. From there, Salve would hold on to the lead over the remainder of the half, going into the break with a 37-32 lead.

The second half began with three lead changes and two ties over the first five minutes of play. Andrew Wasik (Gainesville, Fla.) snapped a 43-all tie with a three-pointer to put the Hawks back on top.

That would kick start a 15-5 run for Roger Williams, helping RWU build their lead to ten. Salve would come as close as four twice over the remainder of the game, including once in the final minute of the game.

Salve Regina used a transition three to make it a 73-77 game with 55 seconds left and had a chance to complete the comeback. However, the Seahawks missed their final three shots while RWU went 3-for-4 from the line to hold on for the win.

Coene led RWU with 20 points, while Nick Marini (Loudonville, N.Y.) finished with 16 points and nine assists. Josh Syska (Peabody, Mass.) and Conor O'Brien (Sharon, Mass.) each finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Rodney Morton (Malden, Mass.) logged a game- and career-high 33 points, while Nicholas Bates (Danvers, Mass.) went for 16 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists. Bowman added 11 points.

On Saturday, Roger Williams (16-4, 10-3 CCC) heads to Maine to face the University of New England while Salve Regina (7-12, 5-8 CCC) travels to at Eastern Nazarene.