MILTON, Mass. (December 1, 2021) – The Western New England men's basketball team traveled to Curry College to open Commonwealth Coast Conference play where the Golden Bears came up just short in a back-and-forth battle with the Colonels.

Records:

• Western New England: 2-4, 0-1 CCC
• Curry: 1-5, 1-0 CCC

How It Happened:

Curry opened the scoring hitting a jumper on their first possession of the game before Brian Geitner hit a three just 20 seconds later to give the Golden Bears a 3-2 lead. A turnover on the Golden Bears resulted in a layup at the other end for Curry to take back the lead 4-3. Curry continued their momentum with a three on their next possession and started pressing the Golden Bears. Western New England made quick work of the press and Brian Berritto found Kenny Flynn under the basket for two. Curry answered with another three only for Berritto to hit one on the right wing to keep the Golden Bears within two (10-8). Flynn blocked a layup that turned into a layup by Jake Harrison to tie the game 10-10. The Golden Bears then forced a turnover and capitalized on their next possession when Flynn drove to the basket to lay it in and earn the Golden Bears a 12-10 lead. After an unsuccessful possession for each team, Curry had a fastbreak to the other end that turned into a three that would give them the 13-12 lead. Harrison made a layup on the next possession to take a 14-13 lead for Western New England only for the Colonels to make a layup and get fouled on their next possession to take a 15-14 lead before the free throws. Curry made one free throw to lead 16-14 before the Golden Bears broke the press and Alex Sikorski swished the floater from the middle of the lane to tie the game 16-16 with 12:19 left in the half. The Golden Bears took a timeout. A turnover by each team gave Curry back the ball where they capitalized with a driving layup to take an 18-16 lead. The Golden Bears tied the game at the 10:46 mark when Flynn grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in. Just 19 seconds later though Curry recorded a three to take a 21-18 lead. Gavin Greene got on the board for Western New England with a floater from just outside the lane to keep the Golden Bears within one (21-20). The Colonels then earned a pair of free throws where they made both to take a three-point lead with 9:51 remaining.

The Golden Bears made quick work of the press once again before Andrew Byfield perched on the three and swished the shot to tie the game 23-23 with 9:21 left in the half. On the next possession Curry made a layup to remain in the lead 25-23. The Golden Bears were unable to convert on their next possession and the Colonels took advantage scoring a driving layup their next time down to take a four-point lead, 27-23. Greene answered with a layup for Western New England only for the Colonels to strike with another layup. With 7:09 left in the half, the Colonels took a timeout leading 29-25. Curry made a pair of free throws followed by a fast break layup to extend their lead 33-25 with 5:53 left in the half. At 5:39, Berritto swished a three after the Golden Bears recorded two offensive rebounds to put the Golden Bears within five (33-28). Greene continued the scoring with a floater in the lane from Sikorski before stealing the ball at the other end that resulted in a three from Berritto to tie the game 33-33. Greene scored a again for the Golden Bears to take a 35-33 lead only for the Colonels to respond on their next possession to tie the game against 35-35 with 3:45 left. Flynn made a layup for Western New England to take a 37-35 lead. The Golden Bears extended their lead 39-35 with Byfield making a turn around jumper only for the Colonels to score on their next possession to stay close. A big defensive possession for the Colonels resulted in a basket at the other end to tie the game 39-39 with 1:36 remaining. The continued their momentum to make another layup and lead 41-39 forcing the Golden Bears into a timeout with 1:17 left in the half. With 35 seconds left, Greene secures an offensive rebound and puts it back to tie the game 41-41 before Curry makes a driving layup in the final seconds to take a 43-41 lead at the half.

Tim Restall opened the second half for the Golden Bears with a layup just 28 seconds into the half to tie the game once again 43-43. Restall then went on to make a free throw to earn Western New England the one-point lead (44-43) only for the Colonels to score on the very next possession. Geitner gained the lead again for the Golden Bears on a layup and then Western New England came up with a big defensive stop with Restall recording a steal that resulted in a layup by Greene for the Golden Bears to lead 50-45 and force Curry to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Colonels converted and then made a free throw to get within two (50-48). A big three at 15:52 gave Curry the 51-50 lead that was soon lost with Geitner making both of his free throws. Two foul shots for Curry regained them the lead only for Geitner to strike again and make two foul shots to earn the Golden Bears a 54-53 lead with 14:57 left in the game. A layup and two free throws back-to-back for the Colonels earned them a 57-54 lead only for Geitner to make a layup on the Golden Bears' next possession. Berritto scored on Western New England's next possession with a jumper off a Greene steal to take back a 58-57 lead. The next basket was scored at 11:12 when Flynn made a layup to extend the lead 60-57. A quick layup for Curry kept them within one (60-59) and later a free throw tied the game 60-60. The Colonels continued their momentum with a layup only for Greene to get the Golden Bears rolling with a layup to tie the game 62-62 with 9:38 remaining. A basket for both teams tied the game 64-64 and the Golden Bears took a timeout at 7:43. Curry scored on their first possession after the timeout and then took their own after a missed three by the Golden Bears. Greene tied the game and then Geitner put the Golden Bears ahead 68-66. A pair of foul shots for the Colonels tied the game once again before a three by Curry put them ahead 71-68. The Colonels continued with their momentum to make a layup at the 3:24 mark and extend their lead to five (73-68) their largest in the second half. Two free throws by Geitner were answered with a layup at the other end. Sikorski made a jumper on the next possession for Western New England to get them within three (75-72). The Colonels made two free throws and took a timeout ahead 77-72 with 1:54 left in the game. With 46 seconds left, Sikorski swished a three and the Golden Bears quickly took a timeout down two (77-75). The Golden Bears were then forced to foul to try and regain possession and the Colonels made their last free throws to win the game 79-75.

Inside the Numbers:

• The Golden Bears shot 47.0 percent from the floor, 26.1 percent from three, and 50.0 percent from the foul line while tallying 38 rebounds, 15 assists, seven steals and two blocks.
• Greene led the team with 18 points while Flynn recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• Geitner earned 15 points on the night along with four rebounds, three assists and one steal.
• Berritto came off the bench for the Golden Bears and contributed 11 points going 3-for-5 from three and 4-for-9 from the floor.

Up Next:

Western New England remains on the road and continues conference play on Saturday, December 4, against Suffolk with a 3 p.m. tip.