WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (January 28, 2025) – The Western New England men's basketball team erased their mini two-game losing streak on Tuesday night in the Conference of New England play, taking it to the hosts of the University of Hartford, defeating the Hawks by a final score of 88-60. Brian Geitner led the way for the Golden Bears with 22 points.

Records:
·      Western New England: 13-5, 9-2 CNE
·      University of Hartford: 4-14, 2-9 CNE
How it Happened:

The Hawks would win the tip and would score on their first possession of the game as Joshua Petion would scoop home a layup in the lane to get the game underway. Western New England would be up next, as Andrew Byfield picked up a pass from Jake Harrison, putting WNE on the scoreboard. Harrison would have WNE's next bucket of the game with a jumper, getting the Golden Bears their first lead of the night. Despite seeing the Hawks bounce back, Western New England would take a lead at 6-5 and would never look back from there. Byfield would drill two three-pointers in quick succession, while Brian Geitner would find his offensive game with his first bucket of the game with 13:16 remaining in the opening half, giving WNE a 14-9 lead. Scoring would be fairly low through the first ten minutes of the half, with WNE leading 18-11, thanks to a pair of free throws from Nate Kasper. Kasper would have a driving layup on a pass from Luka Vlajkovic on WNE's next possession as Western New England would build their lead to eight. The Golden Bears would quickly lead by double digits with 8:55 to play in the half when Tim Restall got on the board with a layup, giving WNE a 22-12 advantage. Matt Houde and Luka Vlasjkovic would contribute to a Western New England 11-0 run that gave the blue and gold a commanding 17-point lead, 29-12. Hartford would battle back marginally with the next four points and would close out the first half on an 11-7 run, seeing the Golden Bears come away with a 37-23 lead at the break. Western New England shot 42% from the floor in the opening half. Hartford
struggled in the half, shooting just 10/39 overall and hitting just 2/12 threes. WNE out-rebounded the Hawks by a slim 26-24 margin in the opening 20 minutes of play.

As they did to open the first half, Hartford would pick up the first bucket of the second half, though this did not put any doubt in the offense for Western New England, as the Golden Bears would quickly take it to the Hawks in the second half to blow out the home team on their home floor. Jake Harrison opened the scoring for the Golden Bears in the second half with Cody Palazzesi earning the assist on the play, giving WNE a 40-27 lead. Hartford would get within ten, which would be their lowest total of the game, as the Golden Bears would put together four straight points from Tim Restall to begin WNE's big run. The Golden Bears led by ten with 13:40 to play and would go on an 8-0 run, capped off by a three-ball from Luka Vlajkovic, which gave WNE their largest lead of the game at 18, 55-37. The Golden Bears would continue to be successful from the floor, including Brian Geitner, who opened the half with just four points but would come away with 22 points on the night to lead all scorers in the game. WNE's lead would continue to grow in the final minutes of the game, as the blue and gold would put away the Hawks with late free throws from Tim Restall and Andrew Byfield while Arik Dagan would hit the final statement for the Golden Bears with a three, helping WNE defeat Hartford by a final score of 88-56.

Inside the Lines:
·      Four Golden Bears were in double figures on Tuesday, including Brian Geitner, who shot 9/16 from the field while grabbing two rebounds and an assist. 18 of Geitner's 22 total points came in the second half to help WNE take care of business on the road.
·      Tim Restall (14 points), Andrew Byfield (10 points), and Jake Harrison (10 points) were all effective from the floor on the night.
·      Western New England shot 51% from the field in the game, including 18/30 from the floor in the second half, hitting 6/13 threes.
·      19 of 32 field goals for Western New England had assists attached to them.
·      The Golden Bears had 40 bench points on the night and 15 points off turnovers.
·      Two Hawks had 16 points each, as Kaosi Chijoke picked up a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards on the night. Joshua Petion also picked up 16 on the night.
·      The Golden Bears are now a perfect 4-0 against Hartford. WNE hung at least 80 points on the Hawks in both games this regular season.

Up Next on the Schedule:
·      WNE returns home on Saturday, February 1, at 3:00 PM, to take on the University of New England in a CNE matchup.