Men’s Basketball Falls at Home to Wentworth in Regular Season Finale

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 19, 2020) – The Western New England University men's basketball team fell to Wentworth, 80-67, on Wednesday in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action on Wednesday evening at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Top Performers
Sophomore Kevin Fernandez (Lawrence, Mass.) led the Leopards with 26 points. Senior Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore Noah Bice (Woodacre, Calif.) scored 15 points off the bench.

Senior guard Tim Reilly (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) scored 27 points, including the first 20 for the Golden Bears. Junior guard Alex Sikorski (Rocky Hill, Conn.) added 14 points.

Game Review
Reilly came out hot early for the Golden Bears, scoring their first 20 points, giving them a 20-14 just six minutes in the game. A 3-pointer from junior Trey Carrier (Wilton, N.H.) gave the Leopards the lead back with 6:42 remaining in the half.

A 3-pointer from Bice with 1:01 remaining in the first half pushed the Wentworth lead to 11 points by a score of 39-28. Baskets from Sikorski and senior guard Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) cut the lead down to six points going into halftime.

A jump shot from Reilly early in the second half cut the lead down to three points. The Leopards held a steady lead over the Golden Bears for the majority of the second half.

With 4:36 remaining in the game, McGuire was fouled out at the 3-point line, and sunk all three free throws to make the score 67-63 in favor of the Leopards. Wentworth responded with a 9-0 run to put the game just out of reach for the Golden Bears.

Notes
• This is the first time since the 2007-08 season that the Golden Bears finished the regular season with a winning record.

Up Next
Western New England (15-10) will host their quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday evening, with the opponent still to be determined. Wentworth (15-9) will close out their regular season at Salve Regina on Saturday afternoon.