Balanced Attack Leads Golden Bears Past Curry College 85-65

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 25, 2022) – The Western New England men's basketball team outscored the visiting Curry College Colonels 45-28 in the second half, on their way to an 85-65 revenge win on Tuesday night from the Anthony S. Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center. 

Records:

• Western New England: 7-8 (5-4 CCC)
• Curry College: 2-15 (1-9 CCC)

How it Happened:

Western New England and Curry College traded hoops through the first half of play with Brian Geitner opening the game with a made jump shot from just inside the key to give Western New England an early lead. The Golden Bears were looking for some revenge on Tuesday night after Curry College stunned WNE in their gymnasium two months ago. Western New England would open the game on a 9-0 run, capped off by a Brian Berritto bucket. Curry would be held scoreless for the first five minutes of the game as the Western New England defense would stand tall to open the contest. 

Curry would battle their way back into the game in the first half and into the late stages of the half, though not before Western New England would lead by as many as ten in the half. Kenny Flynn, Tim Restall, Alex Sikorski and Gavin Greene would contribute for points on the board in the stretch run for the Golden Bears. Curry would come back to cut the Golden Bears lead to just a three point lead at half after Lowelle Torres would nail a three pointer, followed by a made layup by Frankie Santiago for the Colonels with ten seconds remaining to head into the locker room at a 40-37 score. 

Restall would opening the scoring with a layup and a foul to head to the line in the second half. He would record the first five points of the half for WNE as the Golden Bears scored the first 14 of 19 points to open the second half. Geitner would convert on a made three-point shot just over ten minutes into the second half to stretch Western New England's lead to their highest of the game at 11. Jake Harrison would convert his first two point of the game at the 15:10 mark while Sikorski would convert a bucket and a foul at the 14:08 mark to give WNE the 61-42 lead. 

Within the final ten minutes of the game, Western New England had all the answers to the Curry College defense as Steevens Phelimond, Andrew Byfield and Flynn would come off the bench to provide an offensive spark for the Golden Bears. At the 12:52 mark, Flynn would come flying in for an offensive rebound and convert the dunk to lift the crowd and continue to spark the Golden Bears offense.  The Colonels would be unable to solve the Golden Bears, as WNE would collect 17 field goals in the second half, shooting 44.7% from the floor. Western New England would get their revenge over Curry College, defeating the Colonels 85-65. 

Inside the Arc:

• WNE shot 43.8% from the field on the night, while draining seven three-point shots, four from Brian Geitner who finished the night with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. 
• Alex Sikorski would lead Western New England on the night with 18 points, which was also a game high by any scorer. Sikorski knocked down 6-9 shots, including 2-4 from deep while grabbing two rebounds and adding six assists and two steals. 
• Curry was led by JayQuan Leonard, who had 13 points on the night, while converting on 2-3 three-point shots. 
• Western New England would win the rebound battle on the night, ripping down 41 rebounds, including 13 on the offensive glass. Curry managed just 28 rebounds, four on the offensive side. 
• On the night, WNE would send away seven shots and threw down three dunks in the win. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears travel to Endicott College (10-4, 7-2 CCC) on Thursday, January 27 at 5:30 pm. 
• Curry College continues their road trip, making a stop at Wentworth Institute of Technology on the same date at 7:30 pm.