SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 14, 2024) – Western New England senior Gavin Greene led the Golden Bears with 15 points on the night, coming away with his 1,000^th career point as a Golden Bear with his seventh point of the night, leading WNE past the University of Hartford Hawks on Wednesday night.

Records:

• Western New England: 18-6, 12-3 CCC
• University of Hartford: 7-17

How it Happened:

A 40-minute contest that saw Western New England take a lead as large as 19 before Hartford attempted a late comeback, though fall short, would be the name of the game on Wednesday night. Cody Palazzesi would toss up the first shot of the game for the Golden Bears and connect from three on an assist from Gavin Greene to get the Golden Bears rolling early. Greene, needing just seven points to become the 28^th member of the 1,000-point club, joining teammate Jake Harrison on that list. Greene capitalized from three on his first shot of the game before driving to the rim to get a layup, which put him one point away from 1,000 in his career. Greene wasted little time dropping those six points in the game, doing so on the first 12 points of the night for the Golden Bears, grabbing a layup with 14:25 to play, etching his name into WNE men's basketball history. Greene wasted little time to surpass 1,000 points, scoring the next bucket of the game to give WNE a 14-11 lead. Western New England would see their lead grow to nine after getting to the line and scoring five straight free throws, coming from Melvin Kolenovic, Nate Kasper, and Matt Houde, giving the Golden Bears a 21-12 lead. Jake Harrison's layup inside the paint would give the Golden Bears a ten-point lead at 27-17 with 5:04 to play in the half. Brian Geitner would stay red hot from three, dropping a triple while Andrew Byfield closed the half with a layup. Western New England would take a 36-23 lead at the end of the first half. WNE shot 43% from the field in the opening half, shooting 3/9 from deep.

A slow-moving second half would see Western New England hold the advantage. As he did in the first half, Cody Palazzesi would open the Golden Bears up with a hoop in the second half. Neither team would click on the offensive end in the second half, though six straight points from WNE would give the Golden Bears a 19-
point lead after Melvin Kolenovic, Matt Houde, and Gavin Greene would all record hoops. Hartford would drop WNE's lead to 12 points with 9:36 to play, though a thunderous dunk from Brian Geitner would stop the 8-2 run by Hartford and get the Golden Bears back on track, taking a 50-36 lead. Mike Resnick gave WNE their 19-point lead back with a deep three. Hartford would answer with nine straight points in the late stages of the game to get within ten points of the tie with 3:54 to play, though Western New England would grab the final four points of the night to close out Hartford, defeating the Hawks by a final score of 59-45.

Inside the Lines:

• Gavin Greene became the 28^th member of the 1,000-point club in the win over Hartford. Greene led all Golden Bears with 15 points in the win.
• Western New England shot 50% from the field in the second half, taking just 20 shots.
• The Golden Bears turned the ball over 22 times in the win, seeing their opponents turn the ball over 18 times.
• WNE outrebounded Hartford 43-34.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, February 17 at 2:00 PM, taking on Wentworth Institute of Technolog on the road.