Western New England Tops Connecticut College with Hot Shooting Second Half, 90-76

Five Golden Bears score in double figures, led by Pettway (20)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (December 7, 2017) – Five Golden Bears scored in double figures as the Western New England University men's basketball team rolled to a 90-76 victory over Connecticut College on Thursday evening in non-conference action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center. 

Top Performers
• Junior guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) led all players with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line to go with seven assists, four steals and three rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Tim Reilly (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) established a new career-high with 16 points, as he connected on 6-of-7 field goals, including all four of his three-point attempts.
• Sophomore guard Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) recorded 15 points, while freshman guards EJ Day (Norwalk, Conn.) and Alex Sikorski (Rocky Hill, Conn.) chipped in with 13 and ten, respectively, off the bench.

• Connecticut College junior forward Phil Leotsakos (Arlington, Mass.) paced the Camels with eight points, seven rebounds and four assists.
• Freshman forward Dan Draffan (Hamden, Conn.) contributed nine points, three blocks, two rebounds and one assist.

Game Review
• The Camels surged out of the gate with an 8-0 run over the first minute and a half of the contest. The Golden Bears answered with a 15-2 run, however, to claim a 15-10 lead on a jumper by Day at the 12:48 mark.
• Connecticut College eventually pulled back ahead (27-26) on a layup by freshman forward Austin Nwafor (East Hartford, Conn.) with 6:25 left in the first half, and the visitors stretched their advantage to five a minute later. The Camels maintained their slim lead for the remainder of the half and held a 37-34 edge at the break. 
• Western New England quickly regained the lead (41-39) 1:23 into the second half following four straight Pettway free throws. Consecutive three-pointers by Reilly pushed the advantage to 47-39, before a layup by Pettway at the 16:52 mark gave the Golden Bears a ten-point cushion. 
• A Pettway three-pointer with 13:15 remaining sparked an 11-0 run that Day capped with consecutive treys as Western New England increased its lead to 20 (66-46) with 11:18 on the clock.
• The Golden Bears cruised the rest of the way, leading by as much as 27 with four minutes remaining before settling for a 14-point triumph. 

Notes
• Western New England shot 54.5 percent from the field (18-of-33), including 64.7 percent from beyond the arc (11-of-17), and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from the free throw line in the second half as the Golden Bears outscored the Camels 56-39.
• Western New England turned the ball over just 12 times and scored 30 points off 21 Connecticut College turnovers.
• With the win, the Golden Bears avenged last season's 88-61 loss at Connecticut College on December 8, 2016.
• Senior guard Anthony Service (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) and sophomore guard Nate Ramos (Auburn, Mass.) both saw their first action of the season late in the second half. Service joined the team in late November after completing his record breaking football career as a quarterback for the Golden Bears. 

Up Next
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday, as Western New England (3-5) wraps up its first semester schedule at home against Westfield State, and Connecticut College (4-4) returns to New London to host Mitchell.