Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Sophomore Mike Gelineau scored 16 points to lead all scorers, but the Western New England University men's basketball team fell short to Gordon College, 59-57, at the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house on Tuesday night in a Commonwealth Coast Conference matchup. The Golden Bears see their four-game winning streak snapped to drop to 8-12 (6-7 CCC) on the season while the visiting Fighting Scots improve to 8-11 (5-7 CCC).

Richie Armand drained a three-pointer with five seconds remaining to match Gordon's biggest lead of the night and to account for the final score, securing the victory.

Western New England co-captains Musa Elsir and Nick DeFeo added 13 and 11 points, respectively, and junior Zack Askew grabbed a team-best eight rebounds and chipped in four points.

More details to come later...

With the paint locked down, the Golden Bears' early offense came from the outside, when Elsir knocked down a long two and a three pointer. This gave the Golden Bears an early 7-2 lead. Gelineau later rattled in a trey, pushing the lead to 10-4.
 
After a lengthy possessionâ€"and with the shot clock winding downâ€"the Golden Bears' fluid passing allowed junior Gerald McDonald (3 points) to sink a three-pointer, extending the WNE lead 21-14 with 9:49 remaining in the first half.
 
The Golden Bears' rebounding effort in the first half was balanced, with the whole team contributing on the glass. They pulled down 21, and Gordon grabbed 19. Eight of WNE's boards were offensive, opening up opportunities for second-chance points; the Golden Bears converted nine points on those eight boards.
 
Rebounding and perimeter defense compensated for the Golden Bears' 33.3 field-goal percentage in the first half. Controlling the game's tempo and taking Gordon out of its comfort zone in the paint, the Golden Bears held them to a 34.5 percentage from the field.
 
Following a WNE turnover to begin the second half, Askew chased down Jaren Yang on a fast break and swatted his shot off the backboard, reversing the tempo. With junior Luis Agrait (career-high 3 steals, 4 rebounds) leading the chargeâ€"pulled back and found DeFeo on the opposite wing, who didn't hesitate to drain a trey for the Golden Bears' first points of the half.
 
Tantalizing low-post defense allowed the Golden Bears to open the second half on a 14-2 run to take a seemingly commanding 44-28 advantage five minutes in. Not long after, Gordon went on an offensive spurt of its own, which brought them within four at 44-40 at the 9:19 mark, but was halted when Gelineau hit a three 15 seconds later. Streaking down court, Gelineau caught the ball beyond the three-point line and was fouled hard going up for the dunk. He drained one free throw and was taken out of the game for blood on his uniform, but extended the lead 48-40 at 8:36.
 
The Golden Bears led 50-49 when Agrait collected a long offensive rebound, threw it to DeFeo--who is the CCC's player of the weekâ€"who beat his man and finished with an up-and-under layup to put Western New England up by three.
 
Gordon's Hans Miersma knocked down two free throws, knotting the game at 52 apiece with 4:03 left. Following a pull-up jumper by Agrait, giving the Golden Bears the lead, Miersma went to work again in the post, scoring over Askew. On the following possession, Elsir took the ball at the three-point lineâ€"dribbled, spun and was hacked by the Gordon defense; he hit both free throws, gaining the lead backâ€"56-54.
 
Taylor Bajema's jumper tied the game again at 56-56. Elsir maneuvered around the defense again, pump-faked and drew a foul, which sent him to the line where he knocked down one-of-two.
 
On the following Gordon possession, the Golden Bears chased the ball viciously, and defended until the shot clock hit three seconds left. Armand then launched his game winning three.
 
On a drawn up play coming out of a WNE timeout with 2.1 seconds left, the Golden Bears inbounded to Gelineau who fired a three from the right wing that just missed.
 
Gordon improved its shooting efficiency, finishing the game with a 42.3 field goal percentage, after shooting 52.2 percent in the second half. The Golden Bears finished going 20-for-57 for 35.1 percent.
 
Miersma finished with 14 points and a game-best nine rebounds. Bejema added 12 and Dominic Paradis netted 10. Gordon outrebounded the Golden Bears, 40-30.

On Saturday, WNE travels to Dudley for a CCC date at CCC leader Nichols College. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.

#Play4Jody