ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The free throw line was the Redhawks' best friend on Friday night as the Roberts men's basketball team defeated Mercy 78-75, picking up its fourth win of the season.
 
Roberts drained 28-of-30 (93.3%) free throws on the night while going 10-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute of the game. The pressure-filled free throws allowed the Redhawks to hold the lead and seal the victory with Mercy's last second 3-point attempt falling short.
 
It wasn't a great overall shooting day for Roberts with the team hitting just 36-percent from the field and 22-percent from beyond the arc. But the team forced their way to the line drawing 21 fouls on the Mavericks. Reggie Clark, the East Coast Conference's fifth leading scorer finished with 27 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Redhawks. With Roberts clinging to a one point lead late in the contest Clark hit two clutch free throws to force Mercy to attempt a difficult final shot.
 
In the first half the Mavericks controlled the pace of the play building a double digit lead over the Redhawks. A heads up play by redshirt freshman Eric Lewis at the end of the first half helped Roberts gain momentum and change a 13 or more point deficit to 11 points. Lewis was able to poke the ball free from a Mercy guard and while diving out of bounds throw a perfect pass to Amari Lee who hit the layup before the buzzer sounded.
 
The five starters combined for all of Roberts' 78 points. On the Mavericks side it was Bryan Griffin leading the way with 27 points and 18 rebounds. Griffin was able to score his 1,000th career point.
 
The win breaks a nine game losing streak for Roberts dating back to Dec. 21 against Saint Rose. Next up for Roberts is a Sunday afternoon game against St. Thomas Aquinas. The game is set to tip at 4 p.m. following the women's contest at 2 p.m.