Pettway Joins 1,000-Point Club as Golden Bears Roll to 101-83 Victory over Gordon

Recap by Greg Fitzpatrick

Pettway scores game-high 31 points & reaches 1,000-point milestone

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 18, 2018) – The Western New England University men's basketball team was able to build a 25-point lead in the second half on its way to a comfortable 101-83 victory over Gordon College on Thursday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Top Performers
• Junior guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) led the way for the Golden Bears with a game-high 31 points to go along with six assists and four rebounds. At the 17:08 mark of the second half, Pettway became the 23rd player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone when he drained a pair of free throws. 
• Freshman guard E.J. Day (Norwalk, Conn.) added 15 points and classmate Alex Sikorski (Rocky Hill, Conn.) chipped in with 14 points, going 4-of-5 from three-point range. To round out the double-digit scoring, sophomores Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) and Tim Reilly (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), and freshman Zach Tavitian (Milford, Conn.) all scored 12 points.

• The Fighting Scots received a monster performance from junior forward Garrisson Duvivier (Brockton, Mass.), who had a double-double of 26 points and 17 rebounds to go with two blocks.
• Sophomore guard Eric Demers (Acushnet, Mass.) finished with a team-high 27 points for Gordon, going 6-10 from three-point range.

Game Review
With Western New England leading by as much as 25 points in the second half, the Fighting Scots were able to fight their way back and make it a 12-point game with under three minutes left to play. After Pettway made a layup in transition to make the score 95-79, Gordon answered right back with a three-pointer from senior Jaren Yang (San Francisco, Calif.) forcing a Golden Bear timeout with 1:26 left. Pettway finished off a three-point play to make it 98-82 and the Golden Bears went on to register an 18-point triumph. 

As the Golden Bears held an 11-point lead to begin the second half, Gordon started the final 20 minutes by going on a 16-10 run that brought them within five points of the lead. Western New England then proceeded to go on a 10-0 run in order to build a 65-50 advantage with 15:11 remaining in the contest. Pettway and Reilly were responsible for eight of those 10 points. Just minutes later, the Golden Bears then went on a 14-0 run to establish an 81-57 cushion at the 8:48 mark of the second half.

The Golden Bears were able to build a 30-14 advantage with 7:56 left in the first half. During that stretch, Western New England caught fire from beyond the arc, nailing seven three-pointers and ended up 9-of-18 from the three-point range for the half.

The Fighting Scots cut the lead to single digits when Yang hit a three of his own to make it 39-30 Golden Bears with 2:37 left in the half. On the next possession, Day drilled a triple to bring the Golden Bears lead back to double digits at 12 points. Western New England hung onto the double-digit lead with a 45-34 advantage going into the break.

Notes
• The Golden Bears 14 three-pointers on Thursday night marks the seventh time they have drilled 10 or more threes in a game this season.
• In back to back games, Western New England has now matched their season-low with six turnovers while scoring 18 points off Gordon's 15 turnovers. 
• For the first time this season, the Golden Bears had six players score in double figures. Western New England had five players score in double figures earlier this season in a 90-76 win against Connecticut College on December 7.

Up Next
Western New England (7-8, 4-5 CCC) continues its homestand when the Golden Bears host Eastern Nazarene at 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 20 at the AHLC. Gordon (10-6, 6-3 CCC) will travel to Milton, Mass. on Saturday to take on Curry College at 3 p.m.