SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 9, 2016) - Freshman guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored a game and season-high 29 points, but Endicott College used a 19-6 second-half run to pull away from Western New England University and post a 71-57 win this afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.
 
Pettway shot 10-of-15 from the field and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line en route to his third 20+ point effort in the last four games, and the CCC Rookie of the Week also added five rebounds and three assists. Senior center Zack Askew (Middletown, Conn.) finished with 11 points, six boards and two blocks, while classmate Don Stephens (West Palm Beach, Fla.) chipped in with a career-high 11 points off the bench.
 
Junior guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) paced the Gulls with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-7 from three-point range to go with a pair of free throws. Junior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.), who entered today's action averaging a CCC-leading 24.6 points per game, was held scoreless in the first half before contributing 11 points, five rebounds and three assists over the final 20 minutes of regulation.
 
Trailing 34-32 after a back-and-forth first half, Western New England opened the second half with a three-pointer from junior guard Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.), and led by four (40-36) following a layup by Pettway at the 17:16 mark. The Golden Bears eventually extended their advantage to six (47-41) as Pettway knocked down a jumper with just under 13 minutes remaining in the contest, but the Gulls responded with a 6-0 run to tie the score.
 
Western New England held its final lead of the game (51-50) on another mid-range jumper by Pettway with 8:45 on the clock, as Endicott utilized a 16-4 run over the next four minutes to open up an 11-point cushion (66-55). Motroni nailed a pair of triples and added two free throws to key the run, while Walker and junior guard Drew Sawyer (Norwalk, Conn.) also connected from long range.
 
Endicott eventually extended its lead to 16 (71-55) with a minute and a half remaining, as the Golden Bears were held to just four points over the final 5:38 of regulation.
 
Endicott was limited to a 40.3 (27-of-67) shooting percentage for the game, including a 38.2 percent (13-of-34) clip in the second half, but the Gulls were able to connect on 50 percent (6-of-12) of their second-half three-point attempts. Western New England shot 35.8 percent (19-of-53) overall, making just 25 percent (6-of-24) of its attempts from beyond the arc.
 
Western New England (4-8, 2-4 CCC) and Endicott (8-5, 5-1 CCC) will both be back in action next Thursday, as the Golden Bears remain at home to host Salve Regina and the Gulls hit the road again for a matchup with Wentworth in Boston.