Roberts Wesleyan’s women shot a blistering 54 percent from the field in the first quarter to build a 19-point lead and never looked back in their 77-53 win and the men had a 20-point lead in the second half before sealing the game at the free throw line in their 75-72 win over Mercy.
It was the Lucy Covley show for the women in first half as the senior made five three-pointers – four in the second quarter alone – as the Redhawks led by 23 at the half.
“It’s definitely tough when you have the lead, but you can never play down to your competition; you have to continually run your offense and defense and work toward the next game,” Covley said. “In the second quarter I hit a couple in a row (three-pointers) and once you hit your first one you feel better and you’re shooting like you practiced – it felt good all day, so I’m happy.”
Covley finished six-of-ten from behind the arc – three away from tying her team record.
And sophomore Emily Miller registered her 11th double-double in 20 games this season with a dominant 18 rebounds and 17 points.
Sophomore guard Sara Nady also scored in double-figures with 12 points to go with six assists as the women improved to 14-6 overall and 8-2 in East Coast Conference play – good for third place with seven games remaining.
The men’s contest was a back-and-forth affair with the game tied six times and ten lead changes in the first half alone.
The Redhawks got four free throws from Justin Vaughan, a three-pointer by Isaiah Lewis (Churchville-Chili) and a lay-up by Brad Williams late in the first half to take a 41-32 lead.
It was much the same to open the second half as Jean Toussaint had three points, Vaughan a three-pointer and Peyton McLaurin added two treys and a field goal to build their lead to 20 points.
But a 12-2 run by Mercy cut that lead in half and Roberts couldn’t knock down a shot from the field over the final three minutes. Toussaint hit three-of-four from the line and Manny Joseph added another free throw over the final 68 seconds to secure their 14th win of the season.
Vaughan finished with a game-high 14 points with Lewis (12), McLaurin (11) and Toussaint (10) all in double-figures.
“It was a tough game, but we’ve been in those before so we knew how to close games,” Vaughan said. “My teammates keep filling me with confidence and encouragement and tell me to keep shooting, so it’s good to be around.”
