Salve Regina Overtakes Western New England Down the Stretch for 71-67 Win

McGuire scores team-high 16 points, Day adds 15 off the bench

NEWPORT, R.I. (January 27, 2018) – The Salve Regina University men's basketball team outscored Western New England University 24-9 over the final ten and a half minutes of regulation on its way to a 71-67 win on Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Rodgers Recreation Center. 

Top Performers
• Sophomore guard Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) led the Golden Bears with a team-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, to go with three assists, two rebounds and two steals.
• Junior guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) recorded 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal, while sophomore Tim Reilly (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) totaled ten points, six boards, two steals and one assist.
• Freshman guard EJ Day (Norwalk, Conn.) chipped in with 15 points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist in 26 minutes off the bench.

• Salve Regina senior guard Rodney Morton (Malden, Mass.) shot 8-of-16 from the field, 3-of-8 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe on his way to a game-high 23 points.
• Freshman forward Cameron Collins (Oakdale, Conn.) finished with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting and eight boards, while junior guard Isaiah Bowman (Roxbury, Mass.) added 14 points, four rebounds and one assist.

Game Review
Western New England, which trailed 34-33 at the break, faced a five-point deficit (43-38) after Collins made a jumper two and a half minutes into the second half. A jumper by sophomore Cole Eiber (Albertson, N.Y.) at the 16:40 mark sparked a 12-0 run, however, as the Golden Bears claimed a 50-43 advantage with just under 14 minutes remaining.

Western New England held its largest lead of the afternoon (58-47) when Day connected from beyond the arc at the 11:04 mark of the second half. Salve Regina slowly began to chip away at its deficit after that point, as the Seahawks closed to within three (58-55) when sophomore Andrew Bronstein (Needham, Mass.) completed a three-point play to cap an 8-0 run with 9:42 to play.

Salve Regina eventually regained the lead (63-62) on a Bronstein layup with 4:33 remaining, before a Kevin Kelly (Valhalla, N.Y.) jumper two minutes later put the Seahawks ahead (65-63) for good. Collins made it a four-point game (67-63) with a jumper at the 1:10 mark, and Morton stretched the margin to six (71-65) with two late free throws.

Western New England trailed by as much as 14 (25-11) with 7:52 left in the first half, before the Golden Bears closed out the period with a 22-9 run to pull to within one at halftime.

Notes
• Salve Regina outrebounded Western New England 43-29 and grabbed 11 offensive boards, leading to 14 second chance points.
• Eiber matched his career-high with six assists.
• Day has scored in double figures ten times this season.

Up Next
Western New England (8-10, 5-7 CCC) returns home to host Endicott on Tuesday night, while Salve Regina (8-11, 5-7 CCC) hits the road to take on Roger Williams.