SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 18, 2025) – The Western New England men's basketball team opened the game on a 10-0 run in the first four minutes of the game and never looked back and never trailed in the game, beating the Colonels of Curry College by 40 points on Saturday afternoon from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center, winning 93-53.
Records:

• Western New England: 12-3, 8-0 CNE
• Curry College: 2-13, 1-7 CNE

How It Happened:

The Golden Bears would blow the doors open on the Colonels early and often in the Conference of New England contest on Saturday afternoon, grabbing the first ten points of the game. Tim Restall opened the scoring for the Golden Bears while Brian Geitner and Andrew Byfield would also contribute to Western New England's lead. Curry would quickly put up a six spot, going on a mini 6-2 run to get WNE's lead back down to six, which would be the smallest lead of the game for the Golden Bears to follow. The blue and gold would respond with the next 13 points of the game to come away with a 25-6 advantage over their opponent at the midway point of the first half. Eddie McCoy would pick up a quick five points for the Golden Bears on the run, including hitting a three-ball from just above the corner on an assist by Nate Kasper, giving the Golden Bears the big lead. Western New England would continue to take it to the Colonels, who did not pose as an offensive threat in the first 20 minutes of the game. Matt Houde, Cody Palazzesi, and Luka Vlajkovic would join in on the scoring for the Golden Bears, who held a 28-point lead, 37-9, with 4:27 remaining in the opening half. Brian Geitner would rain in a triple with 1:47 left in the half, which grew WNE's lead to 36, while the Tolland, Connecticut native would pick up three free throws to close the half and would drain them all, giving the Golden Bears a 41-point lead, 56-15, after one quarter of play. Western New England shot an absurd 72% from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play and was 5/9 from three-point land to go along with their nine made free throws.

The Colonels would find their touch in the second half, though it would be too little, too late for the visitors as Western New England continued to score often on the visitors. Western New England's lead would get to as many as 45 in the first two minutes of the second half as Tim Restall would use the righty hook to get on the scoreboard again. Curry would begin to go on a short run, which brought Western New England's lead down to 37 with 13:29 remaining in the game. The Western New England lead would hover around 40 points for much of the second half as the Golden Bears and Colonels would trade hoops through the midway point of the half. Down the stretch towards the end of the game, Western New England would get contributions from key members of their bench as Justin Garrestson, Jamani Alves, and Arik Dagan would be on the board with points, which would all help Western New England blow past Curry by a final score of 93-53 in CNE play.

Inside the Lines:

• The Golden Bears laid into Curry early and often in the contest and never looked back. Cody Palazzesi, Jake Harrison, and Tim Restall all had 12 points each in the win.
• Brian Geitner picked up ten points for the home team in the victory, shooting a mere 3/3 and was 1/1 from deep.
• The Western New England bench nearly outscored the Curry offense, picking up 43 points to Curry's 53.
• Western New England shot 58% from the field in the game and was 7/19 from distance.
• This is the second largest margin of victory for the Golden Bears in their meeting with Curry, defeating the Colonels by 40. The largest margin of victory came in the last meeting when the Golden Bears defeated Curry by 41 in the opening round of the conference playoffs.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE travels to Suffolk University on Wednesday, January 22, at 7:30 PM for a showdown with the Rams.