MONTCLAIR, N.J. (March 8, 2025) – The Western New England men's basketball team made another historic mark in their team history on Saturday night, defeating Montclair State University in the NCAA Tournament's Second Round, advancing to the third round, the sweet 16, for the first time in program history. Tim Restall led the Golden Bears with 30 points and nine rebounds on the night. 

Records:

• Western New England: 23-6
• Montclair State University: 22-7

How it Happened:

A Western New England tipoff victory would lead to the first bucket of the opening possession as Tim Restall would find Andrew Byfield for two points, taking the Golden Bears off early. Byfield had the first four in the game for the blue and gold to give Western New England the early lead. Montclair scored ten of the next 12 points in the game, including two triples from Kabrien Goss, take a 10-6 lead. Restall would get WNE back within two before the red-hot shooting of Montclair would take over. Kieran Flanagan would hit from distance six minutes into the game, giving the Red Hawks a 13-8 lead. Western New England had a response for nearly everything Montclair threw at them on Saturday, answering multiple threes while going on scoring runs to lift the Golden Bears. The two teams would hold tight past the midway mark of the opening half. Jake Harrison put up back-to-back layups for the Golden Bears getting WNE within one, 24-25, with 8:05 left. An Andrew Byfield dunk would lift WNE to tie the game at 26 while the Golden Bears put up a massive stretch run to end the half, going on a 12-0 run, grabbing their first double-digit lead of the game. Tim Restall, Cody Palazzesi, and Nate Kasper all had points for Western New England on the run that brought the Golden Bears ahead 38-28 with 1:42 to play. Montclair finished the half with four straight points but a put back with a second to go from Tim Restall would give WNE a 40-32 halftime lead. The WNE graduate student had 12 points in the first half overall. Western New England shot 18/22 from two-point range in the first half, going 64% overall from the floor. Montclair made five three on 16 tries and hit 12/28 shots from the floor in the opening half, a 42% clip. 

WNE opened the second half with the first eight points to begin to pull away from the Red Hawks early. Jake Harrison, Tim Restall, Andrew Byfield, and Cody Palazzesi all joined in on the scoring barrage for Western New England, that saw the blue and gold quickly take a 50-34 lead with 17:15 to play in the half. After a red hot start from the field, scoring would cool down for the next three minutes as only two points would be scored, coming to Montclair, in that span. Western New England would get back on their offense and extend the lead to 19 following five straight free throws from Palazzesi. The WNE lead would grow to as many as 21 with 6:23 left as the Golden Bears would bury the Red Hawks on their own floor. WNE would cash in on their free throws while Montclair would be stumped from the floor in the second half, especially from distance. The Red Hawks would never bring the game closer than 15 as the final five minutes of the game would be all Golden Bears, who came up with a 79-61 victory to advance to the sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. 

Inside the Lines:

• Tim Restall led WNE with his second 30-point game of the season, going an efficient 10/12 from the floor and matching that statistic at the free throw line. The Tolland, Connecticut native also picked up nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the win. 
• Nate Kasper provided a spark off the bench for Western New England, going for 13 points on 5/8 shooting, pulling down three rebounds, an assist, and a steal in the win. 
• Jake Harrison and Cody Palazzesi both had 11 points each for the blue and gold. 
• The Golden Bears held Montclair's leading scorer, Jacob Morales, to just two points on the night. Morales shot 0/10 from the field, all coming from behind the arc. 
• Montclair shot 36% from the field in the game, shooting 2/17 from three in the second half. Western New England struggled from distance, canning just one three but were 27/37 from two point range in the game. 
• WNE advances to the NCAA Championships third round for the first time in program history. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears will take on Trinity College on Friday, March 14 at 7:15 PM at a location to be announced on Sunday afternoon.