Golden Bears Establish Program Scoring Record in 132-94 Victory over UNE

Sikorski pours in career-high 27 points, Pettway adds 25

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 5, 2019) – The Western New England University men's basketball team set a new NCAA-era program scoring record with a 132-94 victory over the University of New England on Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Top Performers
Western New England's offense was firing on all cylinders with five players posting double figure scoring efforts. Senior guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) led the way with a strong all-around performance, as he scored 25 points to go with seven assists and six rebounds. Pettway made 8-of-10 field goals and went 8-of-10 at the free throw line.

Sophomore guard Alex Sikorski (Rocky Hill, Conn.) connected on 6-of-9 three-pointers on his way to a career-high 27 points, while also recording eight rebounds and three assists.

Junior guard Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) finished with 19 points, and freshman forward Kenny Flynn (Dudley, Mass.) scored 18 on 7-of-9 shooting off the bench.

Sophomore forward Zachary Tavitian (Milford, Conn.) rounded out Western New England's five double-digit scorers with 12 points.

UNE sophomore guard Alex Kravchuk (Mansfield, Conn.) paced the Nor'easters with 23 points, while classmate DeMarquez Hadnot (Pflugerville, Texas) chipped in with 15 points off the bench.

Game Review
Western New England, which didn't trail all afternoon, scored the first six points of the contest before the Nor'easters eventually tied the score 11-11 at the 14:49 mark.

The Golden Bears were able to push their advantage back to six (30-24) following a pair of Pettway free throws with 9:40 remaining in the half.

Western New England claimed its first double-digit lead (42-32) when junior Nick DeGennaro (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) sank a pair at the charity stripe with 5:20 on the clock, which started an 11-0 run for the Golden Bears.

Pettway completed a three-point play to make it a 21-point game (59-38) at the 1:28 mark, but the Nor'easters ended the half with a 10-5 spurt to trim their deficit to 16 (64-48) at the break.

UNE got as close as 11 (64-53) on a Kravchuk layup early in the second half, but the Golden Bears never allowed their lead to fall below that mark the rest of the way.

A McGuire triple with 14:28 to play extended Western New England's cushion to 21 (81-60), and the Golden Bears hit the century mark on a Sikorski free throw with 7:49 remaining.

The home team led by as much as 40 (128-88) en route to their first CCC victory of the season.

Notes
• Western New England shot a season-best 61.6 percent (45-of-73) from the field and compiled a season-high 27 assists.
• The Golden Bears outrebounded the Nor'easters 44-35.
• Western New England topped the 100-point mark for the first time this season after accomplishing the feat on three occasions last year.

Up Next
Western New England (4-9, 1-4 CCC) remains at home to take on Nichols on Tuesday, while UNE (3-10, 1-3 CCC) returns to Biddeford to host Salve Regina.