Box Score NEW LONDON, Conn.--Senior Dennis Rinaldi had a monster night with career highs of 21 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Western New England men's basketball team, but it wasn't enough as the Golden Bears were dealt a 95-84 season-opening loss by Suffolk on Saturday at the Connecticut College Coaches Versus Cancer Tournament.

Senior Kevin Wilkes came off the WNE bench to add 15 points, followed by senior Nick DeFeo and junior Musa Elsir with 10 each.

But the Golden Bears couldn't solve the hot shooting of Sam Nwadike, who scored a game-high 30 points on 11 of 16 field goals, and Matt Powers, who added 25 on 9-of-13 from the field. Caleb Unni and Chris Williams also scored in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Western New England was athletic on the glass by outrebounding Suffolk by a wide 50 to 36 margin. Besides Rinaldi, sophomore Zach Askew added nine rebounds and senior Ryan Mickiewicz had five.

Mickiewicz was also outstanding looking for open shooters with 10 assists against just one turnover.

Suffolk shot 50 percent (34-68) from the field compared to 43 percent (34-79) for WNE. The Rams also made twice as many 3-pointers (10-5) and more free throws (17-11).

Western New England had enjoyed an 8-point lead, 15-7, on an Andre Joyner jumper at the 16:03 mark. But Suffolk eventually took a 44-39 halftime lead.

Western New England will play the host Camels in the third-place contest at 2 p.m. Sunday.