Men's Basketball Wins Home Opener 101-65 over Westfield State

SPRINGFIELD (November 15, 2022)– The Western New England men's basketball team had their home opener against the Westfield State Owls where the Golden Bears came out victorious after a scrappy ballgame 101-65.

Records:

• Western New England: 2-0
• Westfield State University: 0-4

How It Happened: The ball game started off competitive. The Owls hit the scoreboard first after two free-throws and they had a 9-4 lead until some free-throws from Jake Harrison brought the Golden Bears only behind by one. Westfield shot in a three pointer before WNE made their run to take their first lead of the half. The run started with a layup and a foul shot from Cody Palazzeli that he followed up with a three. The Owls hit another shot from deep that gave them their last lead in the half. A bucket at the hoop from Tim Restall took the Golden Bears back up one, 16-15, and after some more free-throws from Harrison and a dunk from Steevens Phelimond, WNE had a five-point lead halfway through the first. Westfield with a small run to be down by one, then Palazzeli and Bret Hutchinson had back-to-back layups, 24-19. Following a basket from the Owls, the Golden Bears went on a 10-0 run while they kept Westfield from scoring for almost four minutes of play. The Golden Bears had a double-digit lead with 3:47 on the clock proceeding a Restall top of the key three. Some foul shots put the Owls on the scoreboard again, and WNE kept them scoreless for three minutes towards the end of the first while putting up six points, 40-23. The Owls added another foul shot and a jumper and Palazzeli had a layup for WNE for the half to conclude with WNE ahead 42-28.

A minute and a half into the second before a score, and it was a Golden Bear bucket. They took a 20-point lead with a run of 12 that once again ended with a three from Restall, 55-28, four minutes into the half. There were a pair of foul shots both ways and a few three-point shots from the Owls gave them a small breath of trying to get back in the game. WNE still held the 20-point lead, but Westfield started putting points on the scoreboard more frequently. They had a three and a layup consecutively, but they still trailed 66-43. That sparked another run from the Golden Bears that started with Mike Resnick going 3-4 from the foul line and two from Harrison, the Owls added one, and then two more foul shots from Palazzeli, Golden Bears 73-44. Westfield made the first basket that didn't come from the foul line in almost two minutes. After some technical fouls, the game returned to the foul line. Under 10 minutes left in play the Golden Bears were now on top of the Owls by 30, 77-47. The Owls responded with a layup and then didn't score until there was only six minutes left and the Golden Bears had already put up 84 points. The ending of the game had a lot of fouls. A run of 10 for WNE ended with a three from Resnick, 94-50. A layup from Nate Kasper brought WNE above 100, and after a physical one, the Golden Bears won 101-65.

Inside the Numbers:

• As a team, the Golden Bears shot 51.7 percent from the floor, 35.3 percent from the three, and 73.3 percent from the foul line while gathering 38 rebounds, 17 assists, 11 steals and one block.
• The Owls shot 30.0 percent from the hardwood, 26.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 70.0 percent from the free throw line while tallying 29 rebounds, six assists, five steals, and one block
• The Golden Bears were led by Tim Restall who had a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds. He added an assist and a block and went 10-17 from inside the arc and 2-4 from the three.
• Jake Harrison added 21 points, seven assists, and four steals. Cody Palazzeli added 14 points.

Up Next: The Golden Bears host the WNE Tip Off Tournament this Friday, 11/18, and Saturday, 11/19. They face Framingham State on Friday with a 6 p.m. start time for the first game of the night.