Box Score BOSTON--Graduate student and team co-captain Nick DeFeo led all players with a career-high 24 points to go along with seven rebounds and three steals as the Western New England men's basketball team used a strong defense to down host Wentworth, 52-42, in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at Tansey Gymnasium on Thursday. With the win, the Golden Bears snap a six-game losing skid to improve to 4-10 overall and 2-5 in the CCC (2-1 in conference road games). The Leopards drop to 6-8 on the season and 4-3 in the conference after their third consecutive loss.

DeFeo went 5-for-8 from the field, including three treys, and made 11 of 12 free throws. DeFeo tallied 14 of his team's last 19 points over the final 12 minutes and 7 seconds, highlighted by a fade-away 3-pointer well beyond the arc as the shot clock expired to start the scoring stretch with a 36-27 lead.

Western New England set opponent season lows of 42 points and .224 field goal percentage, outscoring the Leopards 31 to 21 in the second half after a 21-all halftime.

For WNE, junior Zack Askew had six points, five blocked shots and a game-best 11 rebounds while senior co-captain Musa Elsir pulled down eight boards. Freshman Nelson Zayas scored 10 points as the only other Golden Bear in double figures.

Senior John-Michael Fragnoli led the Leopards with 15 points, while senior Nico Donato had eight points, six rebounds and three assists. Freshman Cesar Fulcar had five rebounds and four assists.

Fragnoli put the first point on the board by making his first free throw. The Leopards opened the game by scoring eight points and held the Golden Bears scoreless for the first five minutes. A pair of 3-pointers by WNE helped jumpstart at 9-2 run to bring the Golden Bears within a point halfway through the first. The Leopards played strong in the paint with points from junior Kyle Romich and Fragnoli.

The teams exchanged scores, but WNE caught up to the Leopards when freshman Lucien Fortier nailed a 3-pointer from the left baseline on a skip pass from sophomore Daniel Silva to tie the score at 20 with 1:13 remaining. The teams went into halftime tied at 21.

After the teams opened the second half exchanging points, WNE scored eight straight to lead 36-27 with 12:07 remaining. The Leopards cut into the lead with offensive play on the boards, but the Golden Bear offense continued to click and kept Wentworth at bay.

DeFeo scored 19 of the Golden Bears' 31 second-half points.

Wentworth came as close as five with 5:20 left, however would get no closer as the Golden Bears used a 9-4 spurt to take a 10-point lead with 62 seconds remaining.

Western New England returns home on Saturday to host CCC rival Endicott at 3 p.m. in the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house. Wentworth is at home against Nichols that day.

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(Editor's note: Wentworth Athletics contributed to this game recap.)