Western New England Picks up First CCC Win at Eastern Nazarene, 89-79

Golden Bears shoot 53 percent from the field in second half

QUINCY, Mass. (December 5, 2017) – A strong second half effort powered the Western New England University men's basketball team to an 89-79 victory over Eastern Nazarene College on Tuesday evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Lahue Physical Education Center. 

Top Performers
• Junior guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) led the Golden Bears with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Pettway also recorded four assists, three rebounds and one steal.
• Freshman forward Zach Tavitian (Milford, Conn.) made 6-of-8 field goals and all five of his free throw attempts on his way to an 18-point effort in just 20 minutes of action. 
• Sophomore guard Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) scored nine of his 13 points in the second half, while freshman guard EJ Day (Norwalk, Conn.) chipped in with 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 13 minutes off the bench.

• Eastern Nazarene sophomore Josh Rice (Hanson, Mass.) paced the Lions with a team-high 21 points to go with six rebounds, four assists and one block.
• Sophomores Noah Cheney (Bend, Ore.) and Brenndan Rogers (Hanson, Mass.) totaled ten points each, while classmate Jacob Waldroop (Newland, N.C.) finished with six points, six rebounds, ten assists and three steals.

Game Review
• Eastern Nazarene pulled ahead 8-7 on a layup by Cheney five minutes into the contest, and the Lions didn't relinquish their lead until the 8:06 mark when Tavitian completed a three-point play to give the Golden Bears a 19-17 edge.
• Western New England held its largest lead of the half (26-22) following a layup by sophomore guard Cole Eiber (Albertson, N.Y.) with 5:43 remaining.
• Eastern Nazarene eventually regained the lead (28-26) on a three-pointer by Rice at the 4:17 mark, and the Lions led by the same margin (40-38) at the break as Waldroop went end to end with a buzzer-beating layup on the final play of the half.
• Eastern Nazarene opened the second half on a 7-2 run and held its largest lead of the night (47-40) following a layup by freshman Trey'von Davis (Moore, S.C.) at the 17:55 mark.
• Western New England began to chip away at its deficit, pulling to within one (51-50) on a layup by sophomore Tim Reilly (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) three minutes later. The Golden Bears eventually regained the lead (57-56) when Day sank a pair of free throws with 12:06 remaining, and the visitors stretched their advantage as high as 15 (77-62) at the conclusion of a 24-6 run with 6:44 left in the contest. Day, McGuire and Pettway fueled the game-sealing run for the Golden Bears.
• The Lions were unable to get their deficit under ten points the rest of the way as Western New England closed out the game strong.

Notes
• Western New England shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the field, including 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from beyond the arc, and 92.3 percent (12-of-13) from the free throw line in the second half as the Golden Bears outscored the Lions 51-39.
• The Golden Bears scored 31 points off 20 Eastern Nazarene turnovers.
• Tavitian has scored 15+ points in four of seven games this season.

Up Next
Both teams will be back in action with non-conference contests on Thursday, as Western New England (2-5, 1-2 CCC) returns home to host Connecticut College, and Eastern Nazarene (2-4, 0-3 CCC) faces Dean.