SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 19, 2025) – The Western New England men's basketball team breezed past the Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University (JWU) on Wednesday afternoon in the first Conference of New England game of the season, seeing Zein Wahdan drop a career-high 19 points, leading the Golden Bears to a 69-44 victory on Wednesday night. 

Records:

• Western New England: 4-0, 1-0 CNE
• Johnson & Wales University: 1-5, 0-1 CNE

How It Happened

First Half:

• WNE was off and running from the opening tip, grabbing the first lead of the game and never letting the Wildcats back into the game. Zein Wahdan had the opening four points of the game for Western New England, followed by a Nate Kasper free throw, seeing the Golden Bears lead 5-0 through the opening three minutes of the game. JWU hit from the outside, with Silas Sawtelle knocking down a three, but a 6-0 run for the Golden Bears gave the home team an eight-point lead, with Wahdan and Kasper continuing to help their team grow its lead five minutes in. 
• Travis Mangual opened Western New England's first double-digit lead of the game while Will Laplante III dropped a triple from deep with 10:41 remaining in the half, giving the blue and gold a 19-6 lead. Western New England's lead grew to as many as 18 in the opening half, following production from Luka Vlajkovic and Matt Houde, contributing to a 28-10 lead with 5:40 remaining. The Wildcats were ice cold in the opening half from the floor, managing just six made field goals overall. 
• Down the stretch, Western New England continued to stop JWU's offense, while scoring to grow their lead to a 20-point margin at the break, 36-16. Western New England shot 48% from the floor in the opening half, hitting from the outside three times. JWU shot 22% from the field in the opening 20, going just 2/10 from three-point land. 

Second Half:

• The opening bucket of the half belonged to Matt Houde, who drove to the lane with the shot clock winding down to give Western New England its largest lead of the game thus far, 22 points. The lead only got bigger for the Golden Bears just five minutes into the frame when Zein Wahdan continued to dominate the paint while Nate Kasper and Eddie McCoy cashed in on offense to help the Golden Bears take a 46-21 lead. 
• JWU went on a small run of 6-0 to get WNE's lead down to 18 with 9:56 remaining in the half. Luka Vlajkovic, also dominant down low for the Golden Bears, and Wahdan, continued to up the pressure of the JWU defense, giving the Golden Bears their 22-point lead back, 55-33. The lead hovered around 20 for much of the final eight minutes of the game for the Golden Bears.
• Max Jones and Oscar Morales saw minutes for the Golden Bears in the final four minutes of the game and contributed on the scoreboard while Drezell Duffaut and Jason Britschge helped the Golden Bears finish out their double-digit win, seeing Western New England take care of its first conference game of the season, winning by 25 points, 69-44. 

Inside the Lines:

• Zein Wahdan led Western New England in scoring, picking up 19 points on 8/15 shooting, and picking up six rebounds overall in the win. 
• Luka Vlajkovic earned his second double-double of the year, picking up ten points and 12 rebounds, while also notching five assists for WNE. 
• Nate Kasper was also in double figures, picking up ten points, half coming from the free throw line. 
• WNE shot 45% from the field in the game, hitting five triples overall. The lead was never lost by the blue and gold, leading for nearly all 40 minutes of the game. 
• JWU was led by Azariah Harrison, who scored 15 points on 6/17 shooting. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears return home on Saturday, November 22, at 4:00 PM, taking on Ithaca College for a non-conference matchup.