Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Four Golden Bears were in double figures despite the Western New England University men's basketball team coming up short against the Springfield Pride, 90-77, in their home opener on Tuesday night at the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house. It was Western New England's #Play4Jody Cause game.
 
Junior Zack Askew led the way for the Golden Bears picking up his first double-double of the season with game highs of 18 points and 13 rebounds in 32 minutes of play. Freshman guard Nelson Zayas chipped in 16 points and senior co-captain Musa Elsir added 14.
 
Zayas, who found good looks after breaking down the defense and driving to the basket, led the Golden Bears' up-tempo offensive attack in the early going. Zayas was perfect from the field in the first half, knocking down all six shots he took, to help Western New England build a six-point lead for much of the first half. The Golden Bears' half-court offense set Askew up on the high post and he knocked down three early jumpers. When the Pride's defense caught on, Askew used a head fake to blow past his defender, and get to the rim after the Pride had tied it 25-25 with 4 minutes and 16 seconds left.

After trading blows for the entire first half and neither team gaining more than a two-possession lead, the Golden Bears worked the ball around the perimeter and Elsir drained a trey to give the Golden Bears a 39-32 lead going into the intermission.
 
Graduate student Nick DeFeo (9 points, 5 assists) hit a trey from the wing to start the scoring in the second half and give WNE its biggest lead of 10 points at 42-32. Then the contest began to get tight when the Golden Bears started turning the ball over--seven times compared to just four in the opening 20 minutes. After shooting 51.6 percent from the field (16-for-31) in the first, Western New England struggled finding twine in the second half by converting only 13-of-33 shots resulting in a .394 percentage.
 
Quick ball movement and strong guard play allowed the Pride to open up the game in the second half. Springfield worked the ball around and found their big men, picking up 22 assists, compared to the Golden Bears' 15. With just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half, the Pride put together a 14-5 run, and followed it up with another small run, securing their victory.
 
Springfield's five starters scored in double figures led by Tim Swenson who picked up 18 points and nine rebounds, and Alex Garstka who added 17 points and dished eight dimes. Nick Sienkiewicz and Sean Martin each made 15 points and Josh Altman, 14. Garstka had a lay-in with 14:38 to play and put the Pride ahead to stay at 52-51.
 
The Pride's offensive attack was focused in the paint, where they outscored the Golden Bears, 42-26.

Western New England is back in action when it hosts Lyndon (Vt.) State College in another non-conference tussle on Thursday (7:30 p.m.) at the AHLC.