SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 22, 2025) – The Western New England men's basketball team honored their 2025 senior class ahead of their regular season finale on Saturday afternoon, in a "winner takes first" game against the visiting Gulls of Endicott College. Senior Andrew Byfield collected a career high 17 points to lead Western New England to a 77-61 victory, claiming the top seed in the upcoming Conference of New England Tournament. 

Records:

• Western New England: 19-6, 15-3 CNE
• Endicott College: 18-7, 15-3 CNE

How it Happened:

After celebrating senior day to begin the afternoon, the Golden Bears saw Endicott come away with a quick 9-0 lead to start out just three minutes into the game, forcing a timeout by the Golden Bears. Following the timeout, WNE would come up with an 8-0 run, as Andrew Byfield has a quick six points on the scoreboard for the blue and gold. Endicott star Marcus Montagnino would shine for the Gulls quickly keeping the Gulls ahead by three six minutes into the game. Western New England would go on another scoring run, aided by buckets from Brian Geitner, Jake Harrison, and Cody Palazzesi. WNE would take a six-point lead, forcing an EC timeout with 11:31 to play in the opening half. WNE's lead grew to eight with under nine minutes to play and then would rise to double-digits with 6:21 to play when Andrew Byfield came up with a triple, giving WNE a 28-18 lead. Western New England would continue to have productivity in the first half despite falling behind early, leading by as many as 17 in the half. Andrew Byfield and Jake Harrison would help grow the lead for the Golden Bears in the final two minutes of the half, leading 39-22 with 2:03 to play. Endicott's Matt Boen would hit back-to-back threes before the half would end but a Brian Geitner layup with 23 seconds left in the half would give the blue and gold a 41-28 advantage after the first 20 minutes of play. WNE was 15/31 from the field in the first half, nailing four threes and going 7/9 at the free throw line. Endicott made shots early but fell behind at the midway point of the half, shooting 12/34 overall from the floor while going 3/18 from deep. 

Montagnino opened the second half with a strong move to the cup for two points, dropping WNE's lead down to 11 but back-to-back triples from Andrew Byfield would raise Western New England's lead back to 17, matching their largest of the game. Montagnino would be the only offense that Endicott would have through the first four minutes of the half as the lead for the Golden Bears would grow to as many as 19, following a pair of free throws from Jake Harrison. The teams would exchange punches through the midway point of the second half with Western New England coming up with still a 17-point lead with 9:31 to play after Will Laplante III scooped and scored two points for WNE. Matt Houde's three-point shot with 7:58 left to play in the game was a big shot for the blue and gold, giving Western New England a 64-43 lead. Endicott would break Western New England down from there, scoring eight points on their 8-0 run to get back within 13 points. Elijah Kinney would have four of those points for Endicott. Cody Palazzesi would pick up the next four for WNE, stretching the lead back to 17 but the Gulls would not quit, coming up with a 7-0 run with still 2:20 remaining, getting Endicott within ten. That would be the closest Endicott would come to the tie as the Golden Bears finished the game with an emphatic put-away dunk from Brian Geitner on an assist from Jake Harrison, putting an end to the contest, claiming Western New England as the outright Conference of New England championships, defeating Endicott 77-61. 

Inside the Lines:

• Andrew Byfield rose to the occasion in an important game for the blue and gold, scoring 17 points on 6/10 shooting, going 4/6 from distance while collecting three rebounds. The 17 points is a career-high for the WNE senior. 
• Cody Palazzesi finished with 16 points for WNE, making six field goals while collecting four rebounds and two steals. 
• Jake Harrison had another double-double on the afternoon, picking up 12 points on 4/7 shooting while collecting ten rebounds for WNE. 
• Brian Geinter finished the game with a massive dunk, two of his ten points on the night, going a perfect 5/5 from two-point range. 
• Western New England shot 50% from the field in the second half and 49.2% for the game, hitting eight threes and going 11/13 from the free throw line. 
• Marcus Montagnino led Endicott by dropping 24 points and collected seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals on the afternoon. 
• The Gulls shot 37% from the field as a team and hit just six of their 29 threes. 
• With the win over Endicott, WNE moves to 2-0 over the Gulls this season and claims the top spot in the CNE Tournament, tying Endicott with a 15-3 mark in conference play this year. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Number one seeded Western New England men's basketball finishes the regular season with a 19-6 record, going 15-3 in CNE action on the year. WNE receives a bye for the opening round of the CNE Tournament, which starts on Tuesday, February 25. The Golden Bears will play in the CNE Semifinals on Thursday, February 27 at a time to be determined depending on results from Tuesday's games.