SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 19, 2016) - The Western New England University men's basketball team built an early double-digit lead and cruised to an 83-66 victory over Curry College this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.
 
Junior guard Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) led four Golden Bears in double-figures with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point distance. Freshman guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) finished with 16 points, a game-high eight assists and four steals, while seniors Luis Agrait (South Hadley, Mass.) and Gerald McDonald (Boca Raton, Fla.) chipped in with ten points each and sophomore center Michael Ryan (Preston, Conn.) contributed six points and nine rebounds in his first collegiate start.
 
Junior James Pina (Warwick, R.I.) paced the Colonels with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field to go with a 3-for-5 effort at the free throw line. Classmate Trey Jones (Mattapan, Mass.) totaled 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, while senior guard Tim Flanagan (Providence, R.I.) added eight points, three boards, three steals and two assists for the visitors.
 
Western New England displayed a hot shooting touch out of the gates to open up a 19-4 lead seven minutes into the contest, as Gelineau connected on his first six field goal attempts, including a trio of three-pointers. The Colonels pulled to within 12 (33-21) after Pina knocked down a pair of free throws with three minutes left in the half, but a 9-4 Golden Bear run the rest of the way extended the Western New England lead back to 17 (42-25) at the break. Led by Gelineau's 7-for-8 showing in the first half, the Golden Bears posted a 57.7 percent (15-of-26) shooting clip over the opening 20 minutes of action, including 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from three-point range.   
 
Pina scored 12 of Curry's 14 points over the first seven minutes of the second half as the Colonels managed to keep their deficit at 16 (55-39), before Agrait nailed a three-pointer and McDonald followed with a layup to push Western New England's lead up over 20. Flanagan answered with a triple on the other end to bring the visitors back to within 18 (60-42), but a 10-0 Golden Bear run over the next two minutes, keyed by a pair of three-pointers from McDonald, broke the game open. Western New England held its largest lead of the night (73-44) after senior Don Stephens (West Palm Beach, Fla.) connected from beyond the arc with just under eight minutes left in the contest, and the Golden Bears cruised to a 17-point triumph.
 
Western New England (6-9, 4-5 CCC) and Curry (0-16, 0-9 CCC) will both be back in action on Saturday, as the Golden Bears head to Biddeford, Maine to take on the University of New England, and the Colonels return home to host Salve Regina.