Courtesy of RobertsRedHawks.com
AMHERST, N.Y. – For the first time in five seasons the Roberts Wesleyan men’s basketball team has started the season 2-0 following a 75-56 win over Felician College on Saturday afternoon. The last time the Redhawks were 2-0 to begin a season was in the 2011-2012 season.
In the second day of the ECC-CACC Challenge Presented by WNY Knee & Orthopedic Surgery PC the Redhawks saw three players score over 15 points each. Leading the way was Justin Vaughan with 17 points in just 22 minutes of action. The junior guard went 6-of-13 from the floor including two made three pointers. The other double digit point scorers for Roberts were junior Michael Bush with 16 points and senior Manny Joseph with 15 points.
The Redhawks jumped out to an early 9-0 lead with the first seven points coming off the hand of sophomore guard Isaiah Lewis. Felician was able to grab their first lead of the game with 7:25 remaining in the first half to go up 17-14. The score remained close for the rest of the half but two made free throws by Peyton McLaurin kept the Redhawks in the lead 30-27 at the break.
With less than 10 minutes to go in the second half the score was tied at 45-45, but Roberts took control from there. It started with a layup by Vaughan with 8:35 on the clock. On the next trip down he hit a three pointer which was then followed by another three point bucket credited to Joseph. With 5:52 on the clock Joseph hit his third three of the half to put the Redhawks up by nine. Another layup by Vaughan 30 seconds later gave Roberts an 11 point advantage. The Redhawks continued to extend the lead until it was at 19 points with just over one minute remaining in regulation. The defense would go on to hold the Golden Falcons in the final minute to walk away with a 75-56 win.
Roberts dominated the inside scoring outscoring Felician 32-12 in the paint. The Redhawks also received a lift from their bench play getting 27 points from the bench.
Roberts Wesleyan finishes the ECC-CACC Challenge with a perfect 2-0 record and will take that momentum into the first home game of the season on Wednesday against Notre Dame College (Ohio). The game is slated for 7 p.m. in the Voller Athletic Center.
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