SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Western New England University men's basketball team established a 15-point halftime lead and pulled away in the second half to earn a 98-64 victory over Curry College on Thursday evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.
Top Performers
• Junior guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) was among five Golden Bears in double figures with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with four rebounds, four assists and one steal in 19 minutes of action.
• Freshman forward Zach Tavitian (Milford, Conn.) finished with 11 points and six rebounds, while sophomore guard Nick DeGenarro (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) provided a spark off the bench with a team and career-high 13 points, five assists, three steals and one rebound.
• Senior center John Coleman (Warwick, R.I.) paced the Colonels with game-highs in both points (15) and rebounds (11).
• Sophomore Jared Thorpe-Johnson (Dorchester, Mass.) contributed ten points, while sophomore guard Spencer Feng (Keene, N.H.) added five points, six assists and three rebounds.
Game Review
Western New England, which closed out the first half on a 20-7 run to claim a 43-28 advantage at the break, carried its momentum into the second half. Sophomore guard Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) got to the rim for a layup on the Golden Bears' first possession, before classmate Tim Reilly (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) knocked down a three-pointer to push Western New England's lead to 20 (48-28) a minute into the half.
Tavitian completed a three-point play to make it 60-33 at the 15:05 mark, and freshman Alex Chenaille (San Antonio, Tex.) connected from beyond the arc to extend the advantage to 37 (79-42) with 10:22 to play. The Golden Bears eventually led by as much as 44 (96-52) en route to their third conference victory of the season.
With Curry trailing 5-2 early in the first half, Coleman scored six straight points for the Colonels, forcing a Western New England timeout with the visitors holding an 8-5 edge at the 13:22 mark. Consecutive jumpers by DeGennaro put the Golden Bears back in front (17-15) with 9:14 remaining in the half, and McGuire drained a trey three minutes later to give Western New England the lead (23-20) for good. The home team took control of the contest from there, as a dunk by freshman guard Alex Sikorski (Rocky Hill, Conn.) with 5:07 on the clock sparked a 20-7 run to close out the half. Pettway carried the load offensively with 12 points during the run, while DeGennarro added six points from long range.
Notes
• Western New England shot a season-high 53.6 percent (37-of-69) from the field, including 43.3 percent (13-of-30) from long range.
• The Golden Bears scored 29 points off 27 Curry turnovers.
• Senior guard Anthony Service (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) and sophomore guard Nate Ramos (Auburn, Mass.) both scored their first collegiate points late in regulation.
• The Golden Bears have scored 90+ points in four of their last five contests.
Up Next
Western New England (6-6, 3-3 CCC) travels to the University of New England on Saturday, while Curry (1-13, 0-7 CCC) heads to Quincy, Mass. to take on Eastern Nazarene for a 3:00 p.m. tip.
(Game Recap Courtesy of Western New England University Sports Information)