Late rally for Seahawks comes up short against Golden Bears

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 15, 2022) - Western New England University men's basketball led by as many as 20 points in the second half before the visiting Seahawks of Salve Regina University closed the gap to six (71-65) with 2:24 remaining, but the Golden Bears held on for an 11-point win (79-68) in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action.

Freshman Declan Walmsley (Franklin, Mass.) got the game started with a 3-pointer for Salve Regina (9-4, 4-2 CCC). The Golden Bears would fight back for their first lead of the game at 8-7 off a Tim Restall layup at the 14:38 mark of the first half. Mookie Lester would connect from distance for the Golden Bears to give WNE the 11-9 lead over Salve Regina. At the midway point of the first half, Western New England would tighten up their defense and allow just two points to the Seahawks in a span of three minutes to extend their lead. Steevens Phelimond would connect on a mid-range jump shot at 10:09 into the half, while Jake Harrison continued his good play on the court by knocking down a chance at the rim to give the Golden Bears a 19-13 lead. 

Salve Regina would fight back into the game, knocking the Golden Bears lead down to just a single point with 5:47 remaining, though the Golden Bears would never lose their lead in the first half, extending their lead to as much as eight when the final buzzer went off to end the half. Brian Geitner would lead the Golden Bears with nine first half points, while Brian Berritto would collect seven points on 3-4 shooting. The Seahawks were led by Clay Brochu (North Kingstown, R.I.), who had nine points himself in the half and played all 20 minutes.

Western New England would start the second half with a made three-pointer from Harrison to give WNE their first double digit lead of the game, putting them ahead by 11. Geitner would travel to the rim just a minute into the second half and take some contact down low, though able to finish his layup opportunity and get credit with a free throw oppotunity for a three-point play. The Golden Bears defense would be a force in the second half with Andrew Byfield and Alex Sikorski coming up with big plays to keep Salve off the scoreboard.

Down the stretch into the final 10 minutes left to play in the contest, Western New England would extend their lead to as many as 20 as Sikorski would finish a layup to give WNE the 65-45 lead. Salve Regina would attempt to crawl back into the contest, trimming the deficit to six with 2:24 to play, though clutch free throw shooting from Restall and Harrison would give the Golden Bears some breathing room again. A Sikorski dunk with 1:36 to play iced the win for Western New England, giving the Golden Bears a 79-68 victory over the Seahawks.

Mikey Spencer (Abington, Mass.) and Harrison led their respective teams with 20 points apiece. Spencer had a double-double as he shared game-high rebounding honors with Restall, both with a dozen boards.