Western New England Slips Past Men's Basketball

BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Alex Sikorski (Rocky Hill, Conn.) hit a pair of fee throws with 1:30 remaining to give the Western New England University men's basketball team a 61-60 lead and three of four free throws down the stretch allowed the Golden Bears (9-5, 4-1 Commonwealth Coast Conference) to hold on as they defeated Wentworth Institute of Technology (11-4, 4-2).

THE BASICS:

LEADING SCORERS:  Trey Carrier, 13; Kyle Henseler, 11; Stephen Azums, 10; Kevin Fernandez, 10
LEADING REBOUNDERS:  Trey Carrier, 9; Stephen Azums, 9; Kyle Henseler, 9
ASSIST LEADERS:  Noah Bice, 3; Kyle Henseler, 3

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Wentworth lead by four points on three occasions early in the contest, including when junior Trey Carrier (Wilton, N.H.) hit a three with 12:23 left to give the hosts a 15-11 lead. A three pointer from senior Mike McGuire (Garden City, N.Y.) cut the lead to one a minute and a half later before the Leopards went on a 7-0 run, capped off by a three-point play from freshman Conor Rubenskas (Bridgewater, Mass.) with 7:06 left.
• Western New England countered with a 9-0 run to take a 23-22 lead with 4:01 left, however, the lead was short lived as, on the next possession, Carrier hit a shot from behind the arc to put the Black & Gold on top, 25-23. Wentworth led, 31-25, at the half.
• A layup from junior Tyler Lennon (Atkinson, N.H.) and four straight points from junior Kyle Henseler (Coventry, R.I.) put Wentworth ahead, 37-25, 2:17 into the second half. Wentworth New England used a 12-0 run to tie the game at 37-all on a McGuire layup and the Leopards built their lead to six after a senior Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) layup with 9:07 left.
• A Carrier layup put the hosts ahead, 56-52, with 6:04 remaining, however, back-to-back baskets from senior Tim Reilly (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) evened the score at 56-all with 3:25 to play. Carrier put the Leopards back on top with two free throws which was followed by one of two free throws from Sikorski and a McGuire layup to give the Golden Bears a 59-58 lead.
• After Azums put Wentworth back on top, Western New England turned the ball over. Wentworth was unable to convert and Sikorski was fouled after grabbing a rebound. His two free throws caused the third lead change of the half and put the Golden bears on top, 61-60. On each teams' next possession, both missed three pointers and the Leopards had the ball with 24 seconds left. However, a turnover gave Western New England the ball back. McGuire sank a pair of free throws with 11.2 seconds left to extend the lead to three.
• Wentworth inbounded the ball and called time out with 6.4 seconds remaining. A foul put the hosts at the line with the hopes of trimming the lead to one. The missed front end of a one-and-one gave the visitors the ball back and sophomore Kenny Flynn (Dudley, Mass.) sank one of two free throws to seal the win.
• Sikorski led all scorers with 21 points while senior Nick DeGennaro (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) added 15, and McGuire had 12.
• Four players scored in double figures for Wentworth as Lennon had 13 points and nine rebounds, Henseler had 11 points and nine rebounds, Azums had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Fernandez had 10 points.
• The loss snaps Wentworth's season-high five-game win streak.

SERIES NOTES:

• Today marked the 24th all-time meeting between the two programs. Western New England won its second straight while Wentworth leads the all-time series, 15-9.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth is at Gordon on Wednesday, January 15, for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against the Fighting Scots.

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