Eight seniors and grad students honored by men's basketball; Seahawks tied for first

NEWPORT, R.I. (February 16, 2022) - Together they have totalled over 4,000 points in 11 combined seasons. Tonight, Salve Regina University bested Western New England University, 79-64, as the best scoring trio in program history - Cameron Collins (Montville, Conn.), Mikey Spencer (Abington, Mass.), Kevin Kelly (Valhalla, N.Y.) - scored 23, 20, and 16 points, respectively, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action at the Rodgers Recreation Center on Wednesday evening.

The three Seahawks joined teammates Chris Peasley (Plainfield, Conn.) and Andrew Richards (Rosedale, N.Y.) in pre-game ceremonies honoring the upperclassmen in the Salve Regina program. Richards finished with four points and a game-high five assists.

The ice-cold Golden Bears could not buy a three-point shot in either half, knocking down just one three-point shot in each half. The Golden Bears and Seahawks competed hard in the first half and traded bucket for bucker all the way until the buzzer sounded to end the first half. Kenny Flynn opened the scoring on the night for Western New England, converting a turnaround layup. Bucket for bucket would the Golden Bears and Seahawks go as Jake Harrison, Brian Geitner, and Alex Sikorski would all convert on the run, with Sikorski knocking down the triple for WNE to give them their first lead of the night at 9-8 just over three minutes into the contest. WNE would take a three-point lead on a Flynn layup, though the lead did not increase much more in the half for the Golden Bears. Salve reclaimed the lead with 13:31 to play in the half at 15-13 on a Mikey Spencer made layup. Gavin Greene would knock down two shots in a row to give Western New England their three-point lead back, though Salve would continue to trade shots with the Golden Bears to keep the lead low. Western New England would go ahead by four with 5:19 to play after a Sikorski made layup, though Salve Regina would make a run in the final four minutes of play to take a one-point lead at the half with a score of 33-32. 

WNE would drop 32 points again in the second half, though Salve Regina would get hot down the stretch to put the Golden Bears away early. Western New England would tie up the game with 16:28 to play in the second half with Greene connected on a layup, though the score would turn in Salve's favor after a quick 6-0 run, capped off by a big three-point shot from Kevin Kelly to make the score 46-39. Western New England would see the score extend to 62-50 quickly after another three-point shot was converted by the Seahawks. The double-digit lead for the Seahawks would remain for the rest of the game as the Golden Bears would go ice cold from the field. Western New England would fall 79-64 to Salve Regina, dropping their third straight conference game. 

Inside the Arc:

• As a team, WNE shot 41% from the field and converted just 2-19 three-point shots on the night. The Golden Bears knocked down 6-10 free throws.
• Western New England doubled the Seahawks in offensive rebounds, coming down with 20. WNE took in 41 rebounds to Salve's 32. 
• Salve shot 51.7% from the field and nailed 10-20 three-point shots to send them over Western New England. Cameron Collins led the way for Salve scoring 23 points. 
• Kenny Flynn, Jake Harrison and Gavin Greene all had double digits in scoring on the night. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE heads to Roger Williams University for a 3:00 pm tip on Saturday, February 19.
• Salve will play their final game at Gordon College on the same date.