SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 7, 2025) – The Western New England men's basketball team put forth a dominant effort on Friday night from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center in the season opener, defeating the Pride of Springfield College by a final score of 75-55, taking down Springfield for the fifth-straight meeting all-time.
Records:
- Western New England: 1-0
- Springfield College: 0-1
How it Happened:
First Half:
- The Pride opened the game with a bucket on their first possession of the game before Zein Wahdan answered with his first basket as the Golden Bears to even the score. A back-and-forth opening five minutes of the game saw the two teams look to get a feel of one another before a run from the blue and gold saw the home team lead by double-digits quickly. The run saw Cody Palazzesi, Matt Houde, and Nate Kasper contribute for WNE, taking a 16-6 lead with 11:43 remaining in the half.
- The Golden Bears continued to find success on the offensive end, as Will Laplante III dropped in a three while Travis Mangual helped the Golden Bears with a successful jumper, giving WNE a 22-8 lead. Springfield got back within ten, spending a lot of their time at the free throw line in the half, trailing then 25-15 with six minutes left to play.
- Avery Mickens and Eddie McCoy got on the scoreboard after Springfield College made it a nine-point game, while WNE's lead grew back to 12 at the end of the break, seeing WNE pick up a 37-25 lead. The Golden Bears were an efficient 14/30 from the floor while Springfield went just 8/25 overall, including 2/13 from deep.
Second Half:
- Cody Palazzesi opened the scoring for WNE in the frame with a triple, while Luka Vlajkovic became effective down low, converting a layup. Western New England made another scoring run near the midway point of the half when McCoy, Wahdan, Kasper, and Mangual all contributed for the Golden Bears, giving the home team its largest lead of the game, 18, 49-31.
- Springfield bounced back briefly before the Golden Bears put the game out of reach with a 7-0 run, led by Nate Kasper, who had a pair of layups, while Will Laplante III picked up another triple, giving WNE a 22-point lead, 56-34. Springfield College could not solve the tenacious defense of Western New England while the offense connected for the blue and gold with seven minutes remaining, leading 64-42
- The Golden Bears finished off the game with the first career bucket for Frantz Pierre Jr., which gave Western New England a 75-55 victory, opening the season with a 1-0 record.
Inside the Lines:
- WNE was led by Nate Kasper, who scored 14 points in just 13 minutes on the floor, shooting 6/7 from the field.
- Cody Palazzesi dropped 13 points for himself while grabbing eight rebounds and a pair of assists.
- Luka Vlajkovic and Matt Houde both had ten points each. Vlajkovic went for eight rebounds and four assists while Houde picked up five rebounds and four assists.
- The Golden Bears shot 48% from the field, hitting 14 field goals in each half.
- Springfield College shot just 31% overall in the game and was 2/21 from distance.
Coach's Corner:
Head coach
Colin Tabb was asked a couple questions after the game. Tabb was asked for a comment on what he thought worked well for the team throughout the game and what excited Tabb about the team's performance. "Thought for a first game, there were some of the normal first game jitters and nerves that factored in, especially offensively, but I thought we defended really well, especially in the first half. Our guard play was pretty strong on both ends of the court, and Nate provided a huge spark for us, despite barely practicing so far this year because of a nagging injury. The exciting piece is that I didn't think we played nearly as well as we're capable, but we still showed some good things and were able to get a good win, in an always tough cross town matchup with Springfield," Tabb stated.
Up Next on the Schedule:
- Western New England welcomes Brandeis University to Springfield on Wednesday, November 12 for a 7:30 PM tip.
