HARTFORD, Conn. (March 14, 2025) – The Western New England men's basketball team would be frustrated from the tip-off against the fourth-ranked Bantams of Trinity College, seeing Trintiy get out to a fast start and would never look back, blowing out the Golden Bears in the NCAA Championships Sweet 16 Round, closing WNE's season with a 79-42 defeat. The Golden Bears finish their historic season with a 23-7 record, the most wins in a season since 1989-1990.

How It Happened:

Trinity's top two scorers this season got the Bantams rolling early, scoring on their second two possessions of the game as both Henry Vetter and Will Dorion drop buckets, giving the Bantams a 4-0 lead. Western New England would stay physical against a very physical Bantams squad as Tim Retsall would get to the cup and score two, the first two points of the night for WNE. Andrew Byfield would get the Golden Bears within one early, just four minutes into the game with a triple, sparking a loud cheer from the heavily favored Western New England crowd inside Oosting Gymnasium. Jake Harrison would get a pass from Brian Geitner and earned a layup, giving the Golden Bears their first, and what was, their only lead of the game. After WNE took the lead, Trinity would go on an 18-2 scoring run, which blew up the Western New England lead quickly and turned it over to a big lead for the Bantams, who quickly had a 24-9 lead with 9:58 to play in the opening half. The Golden Bears would struggle from the free throw line in the first half, which did not help their chances at mounting a comeback. Trinity would continue to take over on the offensive glass while the Golden Bears would go ice cold from the floor and would not connect on a field goal for the final 12 minutes of the first half. Cody Palzzesi's layup with 12:49 in the first half would be the final made field goal for Western New England in the half while WNE came up with just four made free throws on 11 attempts in the first half overall. The first half would be all Trinity, who took a 40-13 lead on the Golden Bears after one half of play. Western New England took just 19 shots in the opening quarter, making just four of those and went 1/6 from three. Trinity started hot from the floor and finished the same way, shooting over 50% from the field, hitting three triples overall. 

Needing something to spark a massive comeback in the second half, Jake Harrison would push off a defender and drill a triple from the top of the arc that got WNE on the board frist in the first half. Every time Western New England made a shot in the game, Trinity would come back and answer in one way or another. Will Dorion quickly responding Harrison's three with a driving layup for Trinity while Henry Vetter knocked down a jumper, giving Trinity a 28-point lead. Back-to-back buckets for Western New England, a two from Matt Houde and a three from Brian Geitner, would pull WNE back to some life with still 16 minutes remaining but another Trinity response would nearly bury the Golden Bears. The Bantams would maintain an over 20-point lead through the midway point of the second half as Western New England would not be able to mount a full comeback. After just 13 points in the first half, the Golden Bears picked it up in the second half with 29 points overall, but Trinity would respond with 39 of their own, to go along with their 40 in the first half to cruise to a victory. Eddie McCoy would make Western New England's final field goal with 4:02 left in the second half but Trinity would end the game on an 8-0 run to advance to the elite eight round over the Golden Bears, coming up with a 79-42 win. 

Inside the Lines:

• Western New England's ice-cold shooting in the first half played to their detriment early and often. The team shot just 30% overall from the field and went 5/22 from distance. 
• WNE, a typical 70% free throw shooting club, went just 5/17 from the line on Friday night. 
• Brian Geitner led WNE with ten points on 4/12 shooting, going 2/5 from distance while picking up two assists and a steal in his final game in blue and gold. 
• Tim Restall wrapped up his career with WNE on Friday night, picking up six rebounds, an assist, and a block. 
• Seniors Andrew Byfield, Jake Harrison, and Jamani Alves all saw action for the Golden Bears. 
• Trinity's scoring came from all around their lineup but was led by Will Dorion, who shot 6/8 from the field and 3/5 from deep, collecting 15 points. 
• The Bantams will play Catholic University on Saturday, March 15 in the elite eight round for a chance to get to Fort Wayne, Indiana for the NCAA Final Four. 
• The WNE season comes to an end, the most historic season in history. The Golden Bears won their first game ever in an NCAA appearance and made it two with wins over Hamilton College and Montclair State University. 
• Trinity has the upper hand on Western New England in their last three meetings and have outscored the blue and gold 165-88 on home floor in the last two games.