Men's Basketball Falls Short in Hampton Inn WNE Tip-off Championship

SPRINGFIELD (November 19, 2022)– The Western New England men's basketball team hosted their WNE Tip-Off and made it to the Championship game against the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The Golden Bears fell to RPI 76-69 for their first loss of the season.

Records:

• Western New England: 3-1
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: 5-0

How It Happened: The Rensselaer Engineers got out to a 6-0 run in the beginning of the ball game. Jake Harrison laid in the first bucket for the Golden Bears and RPI answered with two of their own. After a corner three, the Engineers had gained a 13-4 lead before the Golden Bears started fighting their way back into the game. A layup from Gavin Greene, Cody Palazzesi, and the last one from Tim Restall cut RPI's lead to just one, 17-16, and they let it slip away by allowing another three from RPI with 13:01 left in the first. The Engineers built a five-point lead that the Golden Bears cut to one with a three pointer from Brian Geitner, and a free-throw from Greene under 10 minutes in the half. A minute plus with no scores either way until RPI knocked in a three that Geitner followed up with one of his own, back to a one-point score, 28-27. Both teams ended up on the foul line before RPI shot in a couple threes and a mid-range jumper for them to have a double-digit lead 40-29. Geitner swooshed in another three, and Harrison hit some foul shots to break up the 10-point lead. The Golden Bears held the Engineers to no made baskets for the final two minutes of the first half and Greene laid in the last basket for WNE to be down 40-36 at halftime.

The Golden Bears tied the ballgame up with two points on the foul line from Andrew Byfield and then Restall through down a slam dunk, 40-40 after a minute of play. RPI responded with a run of seven in four minutes. Back-to-back layups from Geitner kept WNE alive and only down three, 47-44. The Engineers forced it back to a five-point game, and Restall hit a huge three-pointer at the top of the key, back to a two-point game, 51-49. The Golden Bears brought it within two points for a few plays under the 10-minute mark in the basketball game. Harrison went one for two on the foul line to have them down by one at 8:31, but they let RPI get easy baskets and got their lead back to five. A lot of late second half turnovers kept RPI in the lead who were now ahead 65-57. Picking their team's intensity level up, Harrison's layup and Greene's three had it back to a three-point deficit 4:07 on the clock. The Golden Bears couldn't stop the shot from RPI, on top five again. A lot of foul shots were taken towards the end of the game, and the Engineers never let up their lead. They beat the Golden Bears in the championship game of the Hampton Inn Tip-Off tournament 76-69.

Inside the Numbers:

• As a team, the Golden Bears shot 41.9 percent from the floor, 26.3 percent from the three, and 75.0 percent from the foul line while gathering 33 rebounds, 13 assists, seven steals and one block.
• The Engineers shot 52.1 percent from the hardwood, 54.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 76.9 percent from the free throw line while tallying 25 rebounds, 15 assists,10 steals, and four blocks
• The Golden Bears were led by Jake Harrison who had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. He added seven assists, two assists, and one block while going 7-12 on FGM and 6-7 on the foul line.
• Tim Restall added 17 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.

Up Next: The Golden Bears are on the road for their next game this Tuesday, November 22, to battle the Worcester State University Lancer for a 7 p.m. start.