Box Score WENHAM, Mass. (February 19, 2025) – The Western New England men's basketball team came away with a big second half to defeat the Fighting Scots of Gordon College 85-74 on Wednesday night on the road, leaving their final game of the season on Saturday as the all-important one, a chance at the top seed in the upcoming CNE tournament. 

Records:

• Western New England: 18-6, 14-3 CNE
• Gordon College; 10-14, 6-11 CNE

How it Happened:

An opening possession bucket for Western New England would get the Golden Bears rocking early as Tim Restall came away with the first layup of the game. Gordon, desperately needing a win to improve their playoff positioning for the upcoming Conference of New England championships, would rattle off the next seven points, including the first three-pointer of the game from Bernie McGuinness, leading WNE 7-2. Gordon would hold onto their lead after McGuinness would put up a quick seven points on the Golden Bears. Jake Harrison would stop the McGuiness run with a layup, his first bucket of the game while Cody Palazzesi would drain his first three of the night, coming off a career-high 29 points this past weekend over Curry, giving Western New England the lead back, 13-11, with 14:38 remaining in the opening half. Brian Geitner got on the board with an emphatic slam dunk, increasing the lead for WNE to eight, its largest of the half. Gordon would quickly storm back, again led by McGuiness, who was up to 11 points not even ten minutes into the game. Luka Vlajkovic would record a quick layup while being fouled, also connected on the ensuing free throw, extinguishing the run from Gordon. The Fighting Scots would again get hot from the floor, especially from the outside, as Brice McGuire would hit a three that would tie the game at 28 with 7:30 remaining in the half. The 'Scots would live from the three-point line and would sink six of their 11 threes in the opening half, picking up a six point lead with less than five minutes to play. Western New England would look to battle back late in the quarter but Gordon would come away with their largest lead of the game, a seven point advantage, after McGuire came around for his seventh point of the night, giving Gordon a 40-33 lead. Western New England did score eight of the final ten points in the last two minutes of the half to get within two of the tie after 20 minutes of play. Palazessi, Restall, and Nate Kasper led Western New England with eight points each in the opening half. The Golden Bears shot just below 50% for the half while Gordon was a tick over 50% to lead by two. The Golden Bears were out rebounded 20-11 in the first half, including 4-1 on the offensive glass. 

The second half did not start off in Western New England's favor as Gordon came up with the first six points overall. McGuinness has all six points for the Fighting Scots before Cody Palazzesi stopped the run for Gordon with a made jumper of his own. Western New England would tie the game at 50 after Palazzesi would continue to stay hot from the floor for Western New England as the WNE junior recorded all ten points for the blue and gold in the second half, including three free throws on three-point attempt in which he was fouled and also canned a jumper to move to 18-points on the night, forcing a timeout from the Fighting Scots with 14:21 to play in the half. Eddie McCoy would get on the board and even the game at 55 with 12:24 to play, hitting a layup while being fouled. WNE would take their lead since a 28-25 lead when Luka Vlajkovic came up with a layup at the rim for her seventh point of the night, giving WNE a 59-57 lead. The hoop for Vlajkovic sparked a mini 8-0 run for the Golden Bears, who took a seven-point lead before Gordon was forced to take a timeout with 10:17 remaining. Defense would lead to offense for the Golden Bears, who would find their rhythm on the offensive end, as Brian Geitner would dial up a three-ball to give Western New England a nine-point lead, continuing their run. Gordon would go over three minutes without a basket, seeing their playoff hopes slip away before McGuiness would dial up a three with just under nine minutes remaining, getting Gordon back within six, 66-60. The Fighting Scots would not go away, getting back within one point 68-67 after McGuiness would hit a layup and a foul, scoring 27 points with 5:30 remaining in the second half. The Fighting Scots would use a 10-2 scoring run to get right back into the game, seeing their playoff hopes come alive once again. Following a Gordon timeout, WNE would be back in the score column as Luka Vlajkovic would stop Gordon's run, giving  WNE a 70-67 lead. Western New England would hit their stride again, beginning to pull away from the Fighting Scots as the clock ticked under three minutes to play. Western New England would have a 75-69 lead with 3:06 to play after Jake Harrison would hit a free throw but would foul out on the end free throw miss. Western New England would get a massive three ball from Cody Palazzesi in the corner while also being fouled, converting on a four-point play, giving the Golden Bears a seven-point lead with 1:36 to play. The Palazzesi four-point play would doom the Fighting Scots, who would not be able to get anything going after that as Brian Geitner would hit two free throws with the Fighting Scots desperate for the ball back but would not be able to overcome the 10-2 run in the final 1:41 of the game for the Golden Bears, who came away with an 85-74 victory over Gordon. 

Inside the Lines:

• The heart-racing Conference of New England game would see another massive game from Cody Palazzesi, who came away with 26 points on 8/13 shooting, going 4/7 from deep and 6/6 from the free throw line. Palazzesi picked up two assists and two steals in the win. 
• Four total Golden Bears were in double figures on Wednesday night, including Brian Geitner, who finished with 14 points on 5/10 shooting, canning 2/3 triples. 
• Luka Vlajkovic had 13 points, including points in the clutch for WNE, shooting 6/9 overall. Tim Restall had 12 points and five rebounds to also help WNE in the win. 
• WNE shined in the second half, shooting 51% from the floor, hitting three triples and were 10/13 from the free throw line. WNE grabbed 16 rebounds to Gordon's 13 in the game. 
• Gordon's downfall was their free throw shooting on the night, going just 11/23 from the line, leaving 12 points at the line on the night. Bernie McGuinness had 28 points to lead all scorers in the game. 
• Western New England turned the ball over just five times in the game. The blue and gold outscored Gordon 45-32 in the second half. 
• WNE improves to 10-2 on the road this season and has defeated the Fighting Scots in their last four games overall. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England hosts senior day on Saturday, February 22 at 3:00 PM against Endicott College in their final regular season game of the year. The Golden Bears and Gulls will battle for first place in the upcoming CNE tournament. The winner will become the top seed in the tournament.