BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University moved into the championship game of the 2012 Courtyard By Marriott Tip-Off with a 56-53 win over Lesley University Friday evening in the team's 2012-13 opener.
Roger Williams (1-0) will face Suffolk University in the championship game tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Suffolk earned its trip via an 81-60 win over the University of Maine-Fort Kent in the nightcap. Lesley and UMFK will face off in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m.
In the opener, Roger Williams' senior James LeCardi (Fair Haven, N.J.) led all scorers with a career-high 22 points, including four three pointers. Ryan Palumbo (Warwick, R.I.) went for eight points and five rebounds, while Adam Cook (Manasquan, N.J.) finished with nine points and six assists.
Lesley's Kris Bennett (Inglewood, Calif.) notched a double-double for the Lynx with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Justin Rosa (East Brunswick, N.J.) had ten points and four assists with Brian Glodowski (Roseville, Calif.) adding nine points.
Roger Williams had control of the game early, going up by as many as 11 in the first half (16-5). However, Lesley fought back to take a 23-22 lead with 6:23 to play in the period on a fastbreak layup by Anthony Mattocks (Sarasota, Fla.). Both teams traded baskets over the rest of the half, entering the break tied at 27.
The Lynx began the second half on a 10-2 run to go up by eight (37-29) at the 15:04 mark. The Hawks would tie the game at 39 on a pair of free throws by Matt Grossbard (Pearl River, N.Y.) and then regained the lead for good on a trey by LeCardi with 8:14 to play.
Lesley kept the game close in the end, pulling to within one 26 seconds to play, but LeCardi iced the game with a pair of free throws with two seconds to play, followed by Joseph Henry (Medway, Mass.) stealing the ensuing half-court inbound pass to secure the win.
In the second game, Matt Pepdjonovic (Quincy, Mass.) had a strong game for Suffolk with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Colin Halpin (Melrose, Mass.) added 19 points and four rebounds, while Chris Torres (Brockton, Mass.) added ten points and eight assists.
UMaine-Fort Kent's Seam Doman (Queens, N.Y.) led the Bengals with 13 points and five rebounds. Glenn Gaitor (Freeport, Bahamas) chipped in with ten points and five rebounds. Jeremy Bishop (Montreal, Quebec) went for six points and five boards off the bench.
Suffolk led wire-to-wire in the contest, beginning the game with a three-pointer by Halpin. The Rams extended the lead to seven (12-5) before UMaine-Fort Kent came back to pull within one (11-12) on a free throw by Doman. However, Suffolk went back up by seven (24-17) with 8:38 to play, and eventually going into the break leading 36-24.
The Rams kept its double-digit lead throughout the entire second period. Suffolk took its largest lead of the game on a three-pointer by Curtis Casella (Saugus, Mass.), making it a 25-point advantage (81-56) with 1:54 left in the game.