Golden Bears Men's Basketball Falls to Sacred Heart

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (November 28, 2022) – Western New England's Men's Basketball traveled to Fairfield, Conn. to battle the division I Sacred Heart University Pioneers in a game where they fell to the Pioneers 100-59.

Records:

• Western New England: 3-2
• Sacred Heart University: 4-3

How It Happened: Sacred Heart hit a three-point shot to open the scoring, and then the Golden Bears got to a 7-3 lead. The Pioneers hit another three to make it a one-point game. A layup from Brian Geitner and additional one from Greene increased the score gap for WNE. Sacred Heart retook the game lead after a drive to the hoop and their third three of the first half, 11-10. The held the Golden Bears from scoring for five minutes of play while bumping up their lead. Greene finally laid in a basket halfway through the first and added another to make it a one possession game, 16-14. The Golden Bears let Sacred Heart gain a six-point lead until Tim Restall had two trips down the floor that put it in the basket, back to a two-point game. A couple threes from the Pioneers made it a nine-point game, and a late half effort from WNE under two minutes forced it to a one-point score following a good basket and a foul to put Geitner on the line for one more, 31-30. The half ended with another three from Sacred Heart and a point from the free-throw line to lead 35-30.

The Pioneers got after a 10-point lead in less than a minute a play with a layup and yet another three. Jake Harrison broke up the double-digit lead, but the Pioneers picked it right back up after a layup. The kept the Golden Bears at just a free throw while they increased their lead to 50-33 with 16:40 left on the clock off another three-point shot. After two minutes of play, Sacred Heart had built up a 20-point game lead and did not let up. WNE did not hit a basket until almost halfway through the final half of play with a layup from Nate Kasper 67-40. Then Harrison put one in on the line, and Geitner knocked in a three and a jumper to spark some life from the Golden Bears. He put two more in from the foul line and Restall made a layup and a foul shot to make it 72-51. The Pioneerrs then bumped the game lead to 40 plus lead while holding WNE to just a foul shots until the final two-minutes of the ball game. Sacred Heart defeated the Golden Bears 100-59.

On The Court:

• As a team, the Golden Bears shot 42.3 percent from the floor, 20.0 percent from the three, and 45.8 percent from the foul line while gathering 32 rebounds, 11 assists, seven steals and thwo blocks.
• The Pioneers shot 51.5 percent from the hardwood, 46.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 75.0 percent from the free throw line while tallying 40 rebounds, 20 assists,16 steals, and four blocks
• The Golden Bears were lead scorer was Brian Geitner who tallied 21 total points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
• Tim Testall led the team in rounds with 10, and Gavin Greene put in an additional 12 points.

Up Next: The Golden Bears remain on the road for the next match up against the Suffolk University Rams Wednesday, November 30, for their first conference game of the season.