By Johnny Alexandre '22

BRISTOL, R.I. - The Connecticut College men's basketball team fell by a score of 75-66 to the Roger Williams Hawks in what ended up being a much closer game than the final score would indicate on Wednesday evening. Sophomore Jarron Flynn (Rosindale, Mass) scored a game-high 27 points in the effort.  
 
In the first half, Connecticut College (1-1) was able to recover following two separate Roger Williams (2-0) scoring runs. An 8-2 Hawks run started with sharpshooter Mac Annus's three-ball with 16:41 left in the first, and then another 6-0 run was fueled by the Hawks' Nate Lopes's three-pointer with 4:38 left.
 
The Connecticut College trio of Flynn, who scored 11 first-half points in 14 minutes, Billy Whalen (Hamilton, Mass), and Cam Schainfield (Newton, Mass) gave the Camels nearly all the offense they needed to find themselves down just four points, 33-29, at the half. Bigs Ryan Omsalaer (Jackson, N.J.) and Andrew Hartel (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) snagged seven rebounds collectively, including three offensive, to give Conn second-chance points. 
 
Limited in the first half because of three personal fouls, the Camels opened up the second half running the offense through Hartel, who used his size to gain an advantage and score in streaks down low. Despite the new strategy, the Hawks had too much offensive firepower and efficiency, with all five starters contributing.
 
Down eight points with 12:28 left in the second half, the Camels turned to a full-court press in addition to their typical half court 2-3 zone, but they were unable to convert on their increased three-point shot attempts to follow.
 
Beginning with 2:30 to go in the second half, the Camels nearly came all the way back from down 12 points, 67-55. The Camels, led by leading scorer Flynn, took advantage of their possessions, going straight to the hoop and earning multiple trips to the free-throw line. Unfortunately, the Camels would be unable to convert on any of these last-minute free throw attempts.
 
Despite struggling at the line, the Camels, only down six points and within reach of a two-possession game following a Caelin Peters (King of Prussia, P.A.) offensive rebound and score, stole the ball from the Hawks on the other end with just 31 seconds to go. What appeared to be an unbelievable comeback was just cut short when Roger Williams quickly responded with a steal of their own, as the Camels looked to push the ball up the court and presumably set up for a three-point shot to cut the deficit to one possession. 
 
The Camels held a slight edge in rebounding, 36-35, dominated offensive rebounding 14 to 3, and were able to limit their turnovers by committing only 7 to the Hawks' 15. Roger Williams led in 3-point field goal percentage, 34.8 percent to 15.8 percent, and field goal percentage by a 58 to 39 percent margin.
 
Connecticut College will look to bounce back when they next host Gordon College on Saturday at 2 p.m.