Western New England Defeats Curry, 100-74, with Balanced Offensive Effort

Five Golden Bears score in double figures, led by Appiah & Pettway

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 17, 2017) – Led by five double-figure scoring performances, the Western New England University men's basketball team rolled to a 100-74 victory over Curry College this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Top Performers
• Freshman forward Nana Appiah (Patterson, Calif.) broke out for a season-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and 1-of-2 from the free throw line. Appiah also grabbed a season-high nine rebounds to go with four steals and two assists in 22 minutes off the bench.
• Sophomore guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) matched Appiah with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, as he connected on 1-of-2 three-pointers and all four of his free throw attempts while recording two rebounds, two steals and one assist in 23 minutes off the bench.
• Senior guard Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) led Western New England's starting unit with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting overall, including 4-of-5 from three-point range to go with a 3-for-6 effort at the charity stripe. 

• Senior forward James Pina (Warwick, R.I.) paced Curry with 21 points, six rebounds and one steal.
• Sophomore guard Luke Schreiner (Breezy Point, N.Y.) and freshman guard Jordan George-Bellitti (Cambridge, Mass.) added 15 points each for the Colonels.

Game Review
• Curry connected on its first four field goal attempts of the contest, jumping out to a 9-2 lead through three minutes of action.
• Western New England, which faced a ten-point deficit (14-4) at the 14:22 mark of the first half, battled back to tie the score at 18 midway through the period on a Gelineau dunk, before taking the lead a minute and a half later on a jump shot by freshman guard Nick DeGennaro (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.).
• DeGennaro's jumper was part of a 13-0 run overall for the Golden Bears, who claimed a ten-point lead (31-21) with 7:08 on the clock.
• Western New England extended its advantage to 18 (47-29) on a three-pointer by Appiah with 2:12 remaining and led by as much as 19 (53-34) when the freshman converted a layup in the final minute of the half. The Colonels cut their deficit to 14 (53-39) at the break as George-Bellitti scored five points over the final 28 seconds of the half.
• Led by Pina and Schreiner, Curry opened the second half with an 11-6 run and cut its deficit to nine (59-50) at the 17:06 mark. Western New England responded with a 13-0 run over the next 3:40, however, to push its lead to 22 (72-50) with 13:26 remaining. Pettway and Gelineau fueled the run with six and five points, respectively.
• The Golden Bears never let their lead fall below 16 the rest of the way and cruised to a 26-point triumph.

Notes
• Western New England shot a season-best 51.4% (36-of-70) from the field, including 40% (12-of-30) from three-point range.
• The Golden Bears, who turned the ball over just 12 times for the second straight game, scored 39 points off 30 Curry turnovers.
• Led by Appiah and Pettway, Western New England's bench outscored Curry's reserves 66-27. DeGennaro and freshman Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) chipped in with ten points each off the bench.
• Tonight marks the first time the Golden Bears have scored 100+ points since February 9, 2008, when Western New England defeated New England College, 101-79.

Up Next
Western New England (3-12, 2-7 CCC) will be on the road this Saturday at Gordon, while Curry (1-15, 0-9 CCC) returns home to host Roger Williams.