Hawks Edge Golden Bears with Second Half Run, 72-68

Pettway leads Western New England with game-high 29 points

LEICESTER, Mass. (November 26, 2017) – The Becker College men's basketball team used a 10-0 run late in the second half to edge Western New England University, 72-68, on Sunday afternoon in non-conference action at Leicester Gymnasium.   

Top Performers
• Junior guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) carried the load offensively for the Golden Bears, scoring a game-high 29 points on 12-of-23 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line to go with seven assists and four rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) was also in double figures with ten points, while freshman guard Alex Sikorski (Rocky Hill, Conn.) contributed nine points, four rebounds and two steals off the bench.

• Becker senior forward Samuel Durodola (Rosedale, N.Y.) led the Hawks with a team-high 23 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 11-of-15 from the charity stripe, while also grabbing eight boards.
• Junior guard Kareem Davis (Lowell, Mass.) added 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range, while junior forward Dewayne Thomas (Springfield, Mass.) posted a double-double with ten points, a game-high 15 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Game Review
• Becker held an early 7-2 lead after Durodola made 1-of-2 free throws 2:34 into the contest.
• Western New England pulled ahead for the first time (19-18) on consecutive three-pointers by Sikorski at 9:43 and 8:59 of the first half.
• A McGuire jumper with 2:12 remaining gave the Golden Bears their final lead of the period (36-35), as Becker closed out the half with a 9-2 run to open up a 44-38 advantage at the break.
• Western New England, which trailed by seven (50-43) at the 17:22 mark of the second half, put together a 13-4 run over the next 7:32 and regained the lead (56-54) on a Pettway layup and free throw.
• Consecutive layups by sophomore forward Reid Killeen (Amawalk, N.Y.) put the Golden Bears ahead 60-58 with less than eight minutes remaining in the contest and forced a Becker timeout.
• A pair of free throws by Thomas at the 7:03 mark tied the score at 60 and sparked a 10-0 run that saw the Hawks open up a 68-60 lead with 3:12 on the clock.
• Western New England cut its deficit to two (70-68) on a Pettway layup with 26 seconds remaining, but Becker sealed the contest with late free throws.

Notes
• Becker outrebounded Western New England 49-24.
• The game featured 14 lead changes, the last of which occurred with 4:41 remaining.
• The Golden Bears shot 41.5 percent (27-of-65) from the field, 28.1 percent (9-of-32) from beyond the arc, and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from the free throw line.

Up Next
Western New England (1-3) returns home to host Roger Williams in its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opener on Wednesday night, while Becker (2-2) travels to Springfield on Tuesday.