Four Seahawks in double figures in road loss

SPRINGFIELD, Mass—Five Golden Bears were in double figures led by Nick DeFeo who scored a game high 21 points as the Western New England men's basketball team defeated the fourth place Salve Regina Seahawks 76-70 in a Commonwealth Coast Conference game at the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house on Wednesday. The Golden Bears improve their record to 7-16(5-12CCC), and the Seahawks fall to 15-9(10-7CCC)

The Seahawks opened up in a press that the Golden Bears easily broke with good passing and dribble penetration. They started the game  on a 9-2 run, but the Golden Bears cut the deficit and eventually finished the first half with a 31-27 lead.

Barrett Hanlon led Salve Regina with 19 points; Jeff Bielefeld scored 15 while Joshua Hohlfelder added 13 points and Nicholas Bates scored 10 for the Seahawks.

Senior Kevin Wilkes scored 16 points on 5-of-9 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds. Ryan Mickiewicz (2 steals) added 11 points and was perfect from the free throw line going 6-for-6, while dishing four assists.

Zack Askew (11 rebounds) and Dennis Rinaldi (9 rebounds) both chipped in 10 points to help the Golden Bears' offensive push.

The Golden Bears' offense was ignited in the second half when Mickiewicz stole the ball and threw an ally-opp to Askew, who finished it with a two-handed dunk.

The Golden Bears collectively shot 85.7 percent from the charity stripe on 30-of-35 attempts, while the Seahawks shot 10-for-19 resulting in 52.6 percent.

WNE's bench outscored the Seahawks' bench 18-7.

Salve Regina shot 43.1 percent from field goal range on 28-of-65, while the Golden Bears were 21-for-61 totaling 34.4 percent.