Rockville Centre, N.Y. – The Roberts Wesleyan University men's basketball team is still dancing.
The sixth-seeded Redhawks started fast and finished strong to earn a 71-59 wire-to-wire victory over No. 3 Molloy in the first round of the ECC Championship Tournament on Wednesday night.
Graduate student Rian Carter scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, including many on drives late in the shot clock, to power Roberts (10-15). The Redhawks will play second-seeded Daemen in the semifinals at 3 p.m. Saturday at St. Thomas Aquinas College.
"We played well, especially defensively," Roberts coach Mark Saladzius said. "I thought that we did a good job of putting them in tough spots and forcing difficult shots and then getting rebounds on the first try. Offensively, we were very efficient."
Ja'Kair Sanchez added 15 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists, Abou Gbane scored 11 points and Malik Brooks contributed 10 for the Redhawks, who will play at top-seeded and three-time defending ECC Tournament champion Saint Thomas Aquinas College at noon on Saturday.
Roberts raced to a 7-0 lead in the first 1:28 of the game as Carter sandwiched a pair of layups around a three-point shot by Nicholas Johnson.
Molloy scored the next four points before Roberts responded with a 25-5 run to open up a 32-9 advantage when Jean Aristil banked home a three with 7:57 to play in the half.
Five different players connected from long distance as Roberts made 5 of its 10 threes in the first half while building a 38-21 lead at the break.
The Lions entered the game ranked eighth in Division II in defensive rebounds per game, but the Redhawks hustled their way to a 23-16 edge on the boards in the first half. Roberts also held a 10-3 advantage in second-chance points and 11-5 edge in points off turnovers in the first half.
Gbane scored all 11 of his points in the first 20 minutes. Roberts finished with a 42-29 rebounding advantage for the game.
"Rebounding has been something that we have been working on every day in practice all season and it started to pay some dividends," Saladzius said. "We battled on the boards tonight, we were physical and we were able to get a lot of rebounds."
Molloy rallied in the second half and pulled within five points with 11:15 to play, but the Redhawks regrouped and finished off the victory.
Much of the credit goes to Carter for his poised performance with the ball in his hands late in the game.
"That's something that we have been counting on from him all season," Saladzius said. "He had a good matchup and did a great job in those situations."
Provided by the Roberts Wesleyan Sports Information Department.
