MILTON, Mass. (February 10, 2016) - The Western New England University men's basketball team led by 22 points at halftime en route to a 90-61 victory over Curry College this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Katz Gymnasium.
 
Western New England posted a balanced offensive effort that saw its two leading scorers, senior Gerald McDonald (Boca Raton, Fla.) and freshman Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) finish with 13 points each, while three other Golden Bears had nine points and 13 of the 15 players on the roster scored. McDonald shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor, going 2-for-2 from three-point range and 1-for-1 from the free throw line. Pettway, who also recorded a game-high six assists and five rebounds, shot 5-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.
 
Juniors Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) and Daniel Silva (Seekonk, Mass.) and freshman Tyler Johnson (Vernon, Conn.) all finished with nine points, while senior Andre Joyner (Norwich, Conn.) scored a career-high eight points off the bench and classmate Nathaniel Martin (Orange, Mass.) secured a game-high eight rebounds to go with his six-point effort.
 
Western New England posted a 46.2 percent (30-of-65) shooting performance overall, going 11-of-28 (39.3%) from beyond the arc and 19-of-23 (82.6%) from the foul line. The Golden Bears held a massive 52-11 advantage in bench points and also won the rebounding battle (51-28).
 
Curry was led by junior James Pina (Warwick, R.I.), who finished with a game-high 19 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Classmate Trey Jones (Mattapan, Mass.) turned in a 16-point, seven-rebound effort, while junior Paul Preziosi (Quincy, Mass.) rounded out the three Colonels in double-figures with ten points and six boards.
 
Pettway paced the Golden Bears to a 41-19 lead at the break, scoring all 13 of his points to go with four rebounds and four assists over the opening 20 minutes of action. Western New England shot 44.1 percent (15-of-34) from the field in the first half, while limiting Curry to a 25 percent (8-of-32) showing, including an 0-for-10 mark from three-point distance.
 
The Colonels kept the game close early, trailing by just two (9-7) following a jump shot by sophomore Alex Paul (Brooklyn, N.Y.) seven minutes in. Western New England answered that basket with an 11-0 run, however, opening up a 20-7 lead with 9:09 left in the half. The lead reached 16 (27-11) as Silva connected from beyond the arc three minutes later, and the Golden Bears used a 10-0 run over the final 3:21 of the period to claim a 22-point cushion at the break.
 
Another Silva three-pointer 3:16 into the second half had Western New England up 27 (50-23), while the Golden Bears pushed their lead up over 30 (65-34) on a McDonald triple at the 11:49 mark. The visitors led by as many as 34 late, before settling for a 29-point triumph, their largest of the season.
 
Western New England (8-14, 6-9 CCC), which matches its win total from last season with tonight's victory, now returns home to host Eastern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon at the Alumni Healthful Living Center. The Golden Bears will honor their eight seniors prior to opening tipoff, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. Curry (0-22, 0-14 CCC) heads to Nichols on Saturday to take on the CCC-leading Bison at noon.