BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Basketball team erased a ten-point second half deficit for a 76-74 comeback win against Coast Guard Academy Thursday evening.

The win for the Hawks is their fourth straight against Coast Guard and moves RWU back to the .500 mark, improving to 3-3 on the season. Coast Guard drops its second game in three tries, falling to 5-3 on the year.

Both teams began the game fairly even, with nine ties and eight lead changes culminating in a 38-all tie after the first half. Coast Guard opened up the second half on a 12-7 run to take a 50-43 lead with 14:49 to play. A layup by Kevin Sowers (Monrovia, Md.) at the 10:30 mark gave the Bears their largest lead of the game, a 58-48 advantage.

The Hawks would soon turn the game around in their favor, with Matt Grossbard (Pearl River, N.Y.) scoring seven straight Hawk points. Grossbard converted a four-point play after getting fouled on a three-point basket, and then earned another three points on an and-one on the next Hawk possession.

Joseph Henry (Medway, Mass.) would later knock down three straight free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt of his own, pulling the Hawks to within two (62-64) with 6:40 to play. The free throws helped kick-start an 11-0 Hawk run, turning a 59-64 deficit into a 70-64 lead with 4:09 left in the game.

The Hawks maintained a five-point lead (74-69) going into the final minute before Devonte Weems (Chesapeake Beach, Md.) drove down the paint for a layup with 19 seconds to play to bring Coast Guard within three. On the ensuing inbound, the Hawks were called for a five-second delay to give possession back to Coast Guard, giving the Bears a chance to tie the game.

David Anderson (Goose Creek, S.C.) was fouled on a put-back attempt after grabbing an offensive rebound with 12 seconds to play, but missed the back end of his two free throws. Grossbard would grab the board and knock down a pair of freebies to give the Hawks a four-point lead (76-72).

Anderson laid in another basket with two seconds to play, giving the Bears one more last-ditch effort. Coast Guard fouled on the inbound and was fortunate enough to get misses on both free throws, but with only 0.4 seconds on the clock, the Bears weren't able to get a shot off after corralling the rebound as the Hawks escaped with the win.

Grossbard set a new career-best in scoring with a game-high 24 points, including a perfect 4-of-4 from behind the arc and 8-of-8 at the line. Pat Flanagan (Somerville, Mass.) added 17 points and eight rebounds, with Mike Igoe (Lexington, Mass.) chipping in with ten points and six boards. James LeCardi (Fair Haven, N.J.) nearly had a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.

Anderson led Coast Guard with 19 points and eight rebounds. Somers went for 14 points and five boards, while Weems added ten points and four steals. John Benedict (Cumming, Ga.) added nine points, five boards, and two blocks off the bench.

Roger Williams hosts Wheaton College Saturday at 3:00 p.m., while Coast Guard hosts Salve Regina on New Year's Eve at 1:00 p.m.