DUDLEY, Mass. (December 5, 2023) – Western New England men's basketball senior Gavin Greene put together a backdoor layup with one second remaining, giving the Golden Bears a dramatic 68-66 win over the Bison of Nichols College, who are receiving votes in the current d3hoops.com poll.

Records:

• Western New England: 6-3, 2-1 CCC
• (RV) Nichols College: 6-2, 1-1 CCC

How it Happened:
Neither team would hold a lead greater than five points in all of the first half. Nichols would come away with the first two points of the game, while Gavin Greene would answer quickly with a layup as the two teams would go back and forth throughout the full 40-minute game. Jake Harrison would connect on his only three points of the first half on a triple with 12:13 to play to give the Golden Bears a 13-11 lead. Gavin Greene would connect on a jumper as the Golden Bears would take their biggest lead of the game thus far, leading by four with 10:32 to play in the first half. Defense would be key in the game, as neither team would hit the 20-point mark until Cody Palazzesi got to the rim and scored with the left hand to give Western New England a 21-17 lead with 8:08 to play. Nichols would come back to tie the game at 27 when Dominic Mello connected from distance, though the three-ball was answered quickly by WNE's Cody Palazzesi. The Bison would finish the first half on a 9-4 run to take a four-point lead at the break.

Western New England would open the second half of a 10-2 run to quickly retake their lead, grabbing their largest lead of the game at nine points after Mike Resnick connected from three with 14:13 to play. Western New England would hit their first double-digit lead with 11:35 to play when Jake Harrison got to the cup and scored a layup, giving WNE a 51-41 lead. Nichols would quickly close the gap on the lead, getting five points from Domnic Mello and a layup from Tavon Jones to get within three points in less than two minutes of play to get right back in the contest. Western New England would maintain their lead until the 3:15 mark, when Tavon Jones tied the game for the first time since the early goings of the second half, and would grab their first lead since the 17:45 mark of the second half, when Jones again got to the rack and scored to give Nichols a 65-63 lead. Mike Resnick would dial up a three-ball with 38 seconds to play to give the Golden Bears a one-point lead at 66-65. After the Bison would go one for two from the free throw line, Western New England would grab the final possession of the game. Nate Kasper would bring the ball up the floor and give the ball to Jake Harrison at the free throw line. With three seconds on the clock, Harrison would find Gavin Greene wide open under the basket, while Greene would lay the ball softly off the glass and into the basket to give Western New England a 68-66 lead with one second to play. The Golden Bears would make a defensive stand in the final second of the game, taking the rematch of the CCC Championship game from a season ago, defeating Nichols 68-66.

Inside the Lines:

• Gavin Greene played 37 minutes for the Golden Bears, shooting 10/18 from the field, grabbing nine rebounds and five assists while scoring a team-high 21 points in the win, including the game-winning layup.
• Mike Resnick hit a big three-point shot in the late stages of the game for Western New England, finishing with 13 points on the night while grabbing three rebounds and two assists.
• Jake Harrison collected 11 points, scoring in double figures in seven of eight games this season, while collecting his third double-double of the season.
• WNE shot 46% from the field, connecting on six three-point shots. Nichols shot just under 40% from the field while cashing in on just five of 27 three-point field goals.
• The Golden Bears defeat Nichols for the second straight time on the road in the regular season.
• Dominic Mello and Tavon Jones combined for 39 of the 66 points for Nichols on the night.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England will stay on the road for their final game of the 2023 portion of their schedule, visiting No. 13 Trinity College (Conn.) on Saturday, December 9 at 1:00 pm.