MONTCLAIR, N.J. (March 7, 2025) – The Western New England men's basketball team was powered by their upperclassmen on Friday night in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball championships first round, coming out with their first win in program history in the tournament, an 83-73 win over Hamilton College to move on to the second round of the tournament on Saturday. 

Records:

• Western New England: 22-6
• Hamilton College: 20-7

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears scored their first bucket in the tournament in 25 years with a Jake Harrison three to open the game, giving Western New England the lead. Hamilton came back and took their first lead quickly, getting a good jumper from their leading scorer, Hank Morgan, while Garret Keyhani would pace the Continentals in the first half, scoring his first three of the game, putting Hamilton in front. The Continentals would continue to score early as Keyhani had an early six points while Jalen Reese gave Hamilton a 10-5 lead just five minutes into the half. Tim Restall would get Western New England back on the scoreboard with a fast break jumper while Brian Geitner would rattle home a triple, bringing the Golden Bears within one, 12-11. Hamilton held a slim lead through the midway point of the first half as Western New England would stay close with the Continentals. Teja Singh hit his first jumper with 9:18 to play, giving Hamilton College a three-point lead, 17-14. WNE continued to battle, grabbing the lead back with eight minutes remaining in the half after a pair of free throws would go down for Geitner, giving the Golden Bears an 18-17 lead. Neither team led by more than two points for the next four minutes of game play, though plenty of points were had. Keyhani led the Continentals in scoring in the opening half, but the Golden Bears would stay strong, especially at the free throw line to hold strong. Western New England would build a lead in the final four minutes of the opening 20 minutes, getting free throws from Geitner while Andrew Byfield, Cody Palazzesi, and Eddie McCoy would be in the mix, leading WNE to a 10-0 run, taking their first double-digit lead of the game, 36-25. Hamilton would hit their final two free throws of the half but Western New England would come out with a nine point, 36-27, lead after one half of play. The Golden Bears shot 48% from the field in the opening half, going 10/15 from the free throw line while the 10-0 run at the end of the half sparked WNE. Hamilton made just nine field goals and was 2/12 from deep in the first half. 

Western New England would get their lead back into double figure with a jumper from Brian Geitner early in the second half but the Continentals would not go away quietly, getting back within five quickly, following a momentum booster from Hang Morgan, who slammed home a dunk while Teja Singh hit one of two free throws, getting Hamilton back within five, 44-39. Tim Restall would come up with four straight for Western New England while Eddie McCoy would be on the scoreboard again after picking up a steal and putting down two more points for WNE, raising the lead back to nine with 11 minutes left to play. The Continentals went on another scoring run, this time picking up nine points of the next 11 overall, getting within one point, 53-52 with nine minutes left. Hamilton and Western New England would go shot-for-shot as the lead hovered until Nate Kasper would spark the Golden Bears with a layup plus a free throw, getting the Golden Bears a three-point play to lead by five with 7:10 to go. Tim Restall continued to make an impact for the Golden Bears, who came up with five points in a row, pulling WNE ahead by even, 66-59, with 4:08 to play. Hamilton got back within four points, 68-64, following a good hoop from Matthew Rideout with 3:06 to play. Western New England had the next four points, a huge four at that, as Jake Harrison and Tim Restall put together a lead for WNE by eight with 1:40 to play. Down the stretch, Western New England would make their late free throws while Hamilton would go ice cold from the floor. The Golden Bears hit 19 of their 22 free throws in the second half and would ice the game on a Cody Palazzesi layup as Western New England would win their first NCAA Tournament game in program history, coming up with an 83-73 win. 

Inside the Lines:

• Brian Geitner hit ten free throws out of 12 attempts to lead Western New England with 17 points overall in the win. Geitner had three rebounds and a steal overall. 
• Tim Restall was an efficient 7/12 from the floor, collecting five rebounds and assists in the game, going for 17 points as well. 
• Cody Palazzesi shot 4/8 for WNE and was 6/6 at the free throw line. The WNE junior had 14 points on the night as well as a game high four steals. 
• Jake Harrison played 35 minutes in the game, shooting 5/9 overall, coming away with 13 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists to lead Western New England. 
• The Golden Bears shot 24/35 from inside two-point range on Friday, shooting 52% overall from the field. WNE hit 29 of 37 free throws in total, which helped them come up with the win. 
• Hamilton was much more efficient in the second half, going 17/31 overall, but it would not be enough to get past Western New England.  
• Hamilton turned the ball over 20 times while Western New England scored 31 points off turnovers. WNE also had 42 points in the paint. 
• WNE comes up with their first ever win in their first meeting against Hamilton. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears move on and will take on the other first round winner of the pod, hosting Montclair State University on Saturday, March 8 at 5:45 PM.