SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 20, 2024) – The Western New England men's basketball team used a full-team effort on Tuesday night from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center to ease by the visiting seventh-seeded Colonels of Curry College to move onto the CCC semifinals on Thursday night. The second-seeded Golden Bears took down Curry 91-50, leading by as many as 43 in the game.

Records:

• No. 2 Western New England: 19-7
• No. 7 Curry College: 11-15

How it Happened:

Cody Palazzesi opened with the first three points of the game for the Golden Bears, as the hot shooting of WNE would turn out right away for the home team. Curry would answer with three of their own, though the Golden Bears would then go on a 16-0 run to run away with the game early. Jake Harrison set the tone with an and-one, while Brian Geitner would get the crowd off their feet with back-to-back triples. Tim Restall and Gavin Greene would get to the cup to finish out WNE's run, as the Golden Bears would see all five starters quickly get on the board and take a 16-3 lead over the Colonels. The Golden Bears would quickly get up by 17 points with still 13 minutes to play in the opening half, shaking off their rust from their CCC regular season finale, a loss on the road. Tim Restall would grab seven straight points for the Golden Bears, including a scoop and score plus a foul that gave WNE a 20-point lead, 29-9, with 8:55 to play. Curry would not have many answers for the high-powered Western New England offense on Tuesday night, scoring just 22 points in the opening frame. Mike Resnick and Nate Kasper would get on the board in the final minutes of the first half as Western New England would dominate the Colonels early, taking a 50-22 lead at the break. The Golden Bears shot 5/9 from deep and 19/33 from the field in the opening half, while Curry managed to shoot just 33% from the field in the first 20 minutes.

Jake Harrison would open the second half with two quick hoops, which extended Western New England's lead to over 30 for the first time in the game. Western New England would open the second half on a 9-2 run, with Cody Palazzesi and Tim Restall also contributing for the Golden Bears. Curry would not be able to mount any sort of momentum in the contest, seeing Western New England continue to take it to the visitors. Curry would only get Western New England's lead down to 28 in the second half when Jason Romans connected on a jumper, though it would be much too late to generate a comeback. Western New England's lead would continue to rise from there, with Matt Houde and Andrew Byfield contributing on the offensive end with under ten minutes to play. Byfield would drain a three with 7:49 to play, which gave Western New England an 82-42 lead, their largest lead of the game. Will Laplante III would drop two threes for Western New England that raised WNE's lead to 43, which was their largest of the night. Evan Stewart and Arik Dagan would push WNE past 90 points on the night as the Golden Bears would take down Curry with ease, winning 91-50 to advance to the CCC semifinals.

Inside the Lines:

• Western New England's early 16-3 lead punished Curry, putting away the Colonels early. WNE shot 47% from the field as a team, while Curry struggled on the night, shooting 30%.
• Tim Restall (16 pts.), Andrew Byfield (15 pts.), Gavin Greene (11 pts.), and Cody Palazzesi (11 pts.) led the Golden Bears on offense on the night, while 12 total Golden Bears would score.
• Jake Harrison finished the night with nine points, nine rebounds, and seven assists while grabbing two steals.
• The Golden Bears recorded 46 points in the paint and 19 second-chance points, while Curry managed just 28 points down low and seven second-chance points.
• WNE went 3-0 this season against Curry, outscoring the Colonels 271-190. Curry posted back-to-back games under 60 points against Western New England this season.
• WNE moves into the CCC semifinals for the third straight season and will host the semifinal game for the second straight season.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• After upsetting the third-seeded Gulls of Endicott College on the road, the sixth-seeded Rams of Suffolk University will visit Western New England, where the winner will advance to the CCC championship game. The semifinal game will take place on Thursday, February 22, at 7:30 p.m. from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center.