Box Score
BIDDEFORD, Maine – Junior guard
Damon Alston (New Britain, CT) scored a career high 22 points to lead the Western New England men's basketball team to a 57-47 victory over the University of New England in the final game of the regular season Saturday afternoon (Feb. 18) in Biddeford, Maine.
With each team battling for the final spot in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship, the Golden Bears earned the eighth seed in the conference playoffs. WNE will visit top-seeded Salve Regina Tuesday (Feb. 21) in a quarterfinal round contest of the CCC Championship.
Western New England, which won only four games a year ago, improved its record to 9-16 overall and 6-12 in the CCC. WNE also avenged an earlier 70-69 overtime loss to the Nor'easters back on January 21 in Springfield.
Alston provided a clutch performance by making 9-of-11 free throws and pulling down seven rebounds.
Senior guard
Andre Shaw (New York, NY) had another top effort with 15 points (including three three-pointers), five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
The Golden Bears started strong talking a 24-14 lead at halftime and then doubled its margin to 40-20 when junior center
James Hock (Trumbull, CT) (4 points, 6 rebounds in a reserve role) made a layup with 14:11 to play.
Over the next eight minutes, UNE cut the gap to 43-35 when freshman guard
Jordan Ferreira (Nantucket, MA) hit a jumper for his only points of the game with 6:29 remaining.
Two free throws by Alston, a layup by Shaw, and a jumper by sophomore forward
Daniel Minto (West Hamepstead, NY) gave Western New England a 49-35 cushion with 3:02 left.
The Nor'easters stormed back with seven quick points in a minute getting with 49-42 after senior guard
Marcus Winn (Austin, TX) drained a three-pointer with two minutes left.
Minto then came up with a pair of key offensive rebounds and his layup with 58 seconds remaining gave the Golden Bears a 52-42 advantage.with 58 seconds to go.
Junor guard
Charles Fenner (Bronx, NY) led the hosts with 12 points while Winn finished with 11.
Western New England connected on 40.8% of its field-goal attempts and held UNE to only 22.7% shooting from the floor. The Nor'easters made only 8-of-42 three-pointers.
University of New England ends its season at 6-19 and 6-12 in conference play.
Contact: Ken Cerino, Western New England athletic communications director (413) 782-1227
kcerino@wne.edu
