Nichols Shoots Past Western New England, 101-86

Johnson scores career-high 14 points in just nine minutes off the bench

DUDLEY, Mass. (January 31, 2017) – The Western New England University men's basketball team dropped a 101-86 decision to Nichols College this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Top Performers
• Senior guard Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) connected on 4-of-8 three-point attempts and 6-of-13 shots overall on his way to a team-high 16 points in 24 minutes off the bench.
• Freshman guard Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) led Western New England's starting unit with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, to go with four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
• Sophomore guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) filled the stat sheet with nine points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals.
• Sophomore forward Tyler Johnson (Vernon, Conn.) provided a spark off the bench, scoring ten of his career-high 14 points in the first half.

• Freshman DeAnte Bruton (New London, Conn.) and sophomore Marcos Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) led four Bison in double figures with a game-high 27 points each. Echevarria also recorded five rebounds, four assists and one steal, while Bruton tallied five steals and four assists.
• Freshman forward Jerome Cunningham (Westbury, N.Y.) posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards to go with three assists and two blocks.

Game Review
• Johnson fueled the Golden Bears early, scoring ten points over the first 5:45 of the contest as Western New England jumped out to a 17-12 lead.
• Western New England led by as much as seven (29-22) after Gelineau connected from beyond the arc at the 9:08 mark, before Nichols answered with a 10-2 run, taking the lead on a layup by Cunningham with 6:59 remaining in the half.
• The Bison outscored the Golden Bears 15-9 the rest of the way and took a 47-40 lead into the break.
• With Nichols up by eight (52-44) early in the second half, a dunk by senior forward Devin Stallings (Waterbury, Conn.) sparked a 6-0 run that saw the Bison open up a 14-point advantage.  
• The hosts eventually stretched their lead to 21 (73-52) on a three-pointer by Echevarria with 11:09 remaining, before going on to win by 15.

Notes
• Western New England shot 44.7% from the field and recorded 21 assists on 34 made field goals.
• Nichols held a 40-38 rebounding edge.
• Led by Gelineau, Johnson, and freshman Nick DeGennaro (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), who scored nine points in ten minutes off the bench, Western New England's reserves outscored Nichols' bench, 51-14.
• Following his 16-point performance, Gelineau is just 51 shy of 1000 points for his career.

Up Next
Western New England (4-15, 3-10 CCC) returns home to host Wentworth for Senior Day on Saturday, while Nichols (15-5, 10-3 CCC) travels to Curry.