Box Score BIDDEFORD, Maine (February 5, 2022) – The Western New England University men's basketball team played a tightly contested game with the hosting University of New England Nor'easters on Saturday afternoon, coming away with a much needed 82-77 win.
Records:
- Western New England: 10-9 (8-5 CCC)
- University of New England: 4-17 (3-11 CCC)
How it Happened:
For the second game in a row, Jake Harrison led the Golden Bears to a bucket to open the game, connecting on a layup on an assist from Tim Restall to give the Golden Bears the first lead of the game. The game quickly went into the hands of the Nor'easters, who opened 3/3 from the field to start the game. Anthony Sensombath and Alex Kravchuk would contribute to the early seven points for the University of New England as they overtook Western New England 7-4 thorugh the opening two minutes of the contest. As resilient as they have been all season long, the Golden Bears would climb back into their early deficit and rip off a 9-0 run to retake the lead. The duo of Restall (four points) and Harrison (five points) would give the Golden Bears a 13-9 lead with five minutes elapsed in the first half. Scoring between the two teams would stutter as neither team could find the nets for a minute and a half span until the Nor'easters were able to knock down a triple to re-take the lead at 16-13. Both teams would make runs of their own to keep the score close as Western New England's Kenny Flynn sent down a three-point shot on an assist from Brian Berritto, followed by a Gavin Green layup to give WNE their four-point lead back with 9:56 to play in the half.
Western New England climbed as far out as a nine-point lead when Steevens Phelimond cashed in from distance, giving the Golden Bears their highest lead of the afternoon in the first half. As resilient as the Golden Bears were to start the game, UNE came up with a 6-0 run to cut Western New England's deficit to a three-point edge. Kravchuk would tie the game back up at 31 off a made layup and trip to the free throw line with 4:47 to play in the first half. Scoring staggered to end the first half, with Western New England getting the final bucket of the half off a tip-in layup from Phelimond to give WNE a four-point lead, 41-37, at the break. In the first half, WNE shot 15-35 from the field, including four three-point shots, a 42.9% in total. UNE collected 14 field goals on 32 shots and dialed in two three-point shots. WNE out rebounded UNE 24-16 through the first 20 minutes.
The Nor'easters would quickly come out and take the lead within the first minute of the second half as Avery DeBrito and Anthony Senseombath would score right off the jump of the half to give UNE a one-point edge. Western New England would see Phelimond open the scoring in the second half on a made layup, good for Phelimond's 11th point of the contest. Phelimond collected his career high with 14 points last time out against Endicott for the Golden Bears in the win. Western New England would start to come through with big plays on the defensive end that led to transitional offense down the other end of the court, as the Golden Bears tried to slip away from the Nor'easters. Restall and Brian Geitner would help WNE take an eight-point lead again through the first five minutes of the second half. Western New England would hold Alex Kravcuk to just 3-12 shooting through 28 minutes in the contest, though Kravcuk converted 8-8 free throws, giving him a team best 15 points at the time. The two teams saw their offensive games pick up at the 13-minute mark of the second half as Harrison would convert on the free throw line and at the rim on a feed from Flynn to give WNE a six-point lead. Drake Gavin paced the Nor'easters in the second half. With 11:26 remaining in the second half, Geitner would connect for a three-point shot for Western New England to extend their five-point lead to an eight-point lead.
Both teams would compete, with neither of the two taking a big lead over one another. WNE would come up with the largest lead of the contest at 64-53 after Greene connected form deeop. UNE would climb their way back into the game, however, getting production from Ric Castillo and Alex Kravcuk to dig out of the Nor'easters double digit lead. Western New England would re-take their ten-point lead after two good free throws by Restall with 5:43 to play in the half. Kravchuk would take the game for the Nor'easters from there, getting sent to the free throw line twice in a row, connecting on all four attempts. UNE would get as close as four points from a tie with 3:37 remaining, though a basket and free throw from Harrison would give the Golden Bears some extra breathing room with 3:27 to play, giving WNE a 75-68 lead. Geitner would come up with a big knock down three-point shot from the right-side corner with 2:29 to play to give WNE a nine-point edge. UNE would make a comeback down the stretch as free throws were converted by the Nor'easters who shot 74.2% from the stripe coming into the game. With 30 seconds to play in the contest, Western New England would get a huge defensive stand as Harrison, Greene, and Phelimond were able to wrap up Ray Evans, forcing a jump ball, with the arrow in favor of Western New England. Harrison would put the icing on the contest, knocking down both free throws. UNE would come up unsuccessful in the final 20 seconds of play, sending the Golden Bears home with an 82-77 win.
Inside the Arc:
- Jake Harrison led the Golden Bears with 20 points in the win, shooting 5-8 from the field and a perfect 9-9 from the free throw line. Brian Geitner, Tim Restall, and Steevens Phelimond were also in double figures for the Golden Bears in the win.
- In the second half, Western New England shot an even 40% from the field (12/30). In the half, Western New England shot 13-19 from the free throw line and totaled 20-28 for the game.
- UNE was extremely successful from the free throw line, knocking down all but two of their free throws (23/25). Alex Kravchuk (24 points) converted half of those from the line in a perfect 12-12.
- The Golden Bears continue to outrebound teams, taking this one 47-32, including 15-8 on the offensive end.
- Western New England spent 31:03 of the 40-minute contest with the lead while UNE had the lead for just 5:41. WNE largest lead of the game was 11, while UNE had a five-point advantage in the early goings of the first half.
Up Next on the Schedule:
- Western New England hosts Wentworth Institute of Technology (7-12, 4-9 CCC) on Tuesday, February 8 at 7:30 pm from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center.
- UNE travels to Suffolk University on the same date.
