Men's Basketball Routs Springfield College in Season Opener, 89-55

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.  (November 9, 2022)– The Western New England men's basketball team opened their season on the road against the Springfield College Pride where they defeated the Pride 89-55.

Records:

• Western New England: 1-0
• Springfield College: 0-1

How It Happened: The Golden Bears got off to a 4-0 nothing run after a layup from Gavin Greene and a couple free-throws from Jake Harrison less than three minutes into the game. Following a Pride bucket, The Golden Bears forced another run, 10-2 before Springfield added a foul shot to their score. Brian Geitner earned his first bucket of the night off a three-pointer for WNE to be ahead by double digits and take a 9-0 run. They continued to increase their lead while keeping the Pride from scoring again until halfway through the first half with a three, score 19-3. Springfield pulled out another three-pointer and a layup. Steevens Phelimond slammed in a dunk and assisted on a three for the Golden Bears to lead 24-8 with 8:40 left in the half. The Pride shot one right back in, and Phelimond did the same. It took over a minute for either team to score. The Golden Bears hot from the three-line, had Tim Restall shoot one in for the team to hit 30, and another one from Geitner took WNE to a 20-point lead 33-11. Springfield returned another three to break the 20 gap and prevented the Golden Bears from scoring until 3:01 on the clock, and it was another Restall three, 36-20. WNE held the Pride from scoring the remainder of the first while they put up five more points to end it 41-20.

Springfield hit the first bucket of the second half and Restall with a foul shot and a couple more threes, and Geitner and Harrison put up some more buckets for the Golden Bears to increase their game lead to 30 points. The Pride didn't have another basket five minutes into the half with some free-throws, but one more Geitner three and a slam dunk from Restall brought the game completely in the hands of WNE halfway through the final half of the game. They had a run that gained them 13 more points, 69-28 with 10:01 left. Springfield hit another three and Cody Palazzesi returned a jumper for the Golden Bears. they eventually got ahead by 40 points at 5:54 after a layup from Gavin Greene. The Pride never made a comeback they broke a 40-point deficit a few times but never really had an answer for the Golden Bears who ended up winning the game 89-55.

Inside the Numbers:

• As a team, the Golden Bears shot 51.6 percent from the floor, 44.4 percent from the three, and 61.1 percent from the foul line while gathering 47 rebounds, 14 assists, 10 steals and four blocks.
• Springfield shot 34.4 percent from the hardwood, 30.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 54.5 percent from the free throw line while tallying 30 rebounds, 12 assists, 10 steals, and six blocks.
• The Golden Bears were led by Jake Harrison and Tim Restall who both had 17 points. Harrison added nine rebounds and three assists, and Restall had seven rebounds and two steals.
• Brian Geitner also scored in the double-digits adding 15 points, two rebounds, and two assists.

Up Next: The Golden Bears will have their first home game of the season Tuesday, November 15, against the Westfield State Owls for a 6 p.m. game start time.