Jan. 19, 2008
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Western New England's Jim Bayne (Bristol, Conn.) and Chris DeVine (Wilbraham, Mass.) combined for 40 points as the Western New England College men's basketball team posted a 74-62 victory over visiting Endicott College Saturday afternoon in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference contest played at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.
Bayne tallied a game and season high 22 points while DeVine added a career high 18, including 15 in the second half.
Also scoring in double figures was junior guard Matt Maynard (Paterson, N.J.) with 13 points and senior guard Ryan Hernandez (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) who had 11 points coming off the bench.
WNEC (8-6, 2-1 TCCC) led 32-26 at halftime before the Endicott cut the margin to three on three occasions, the last time at 51-48 on a lay-up by freshman center Justin Martin (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) with 8:33 remaining in the game.
The Golden Bears then ran off 12 straight points - eight by DeVine and four by Bayne - for a 63-48 advantage at the 4:57 mark.
Graduate student center Tom Connor (Kittery, Maine/Traip Academy) led the Gulls with 14 points while junior guard Ross Stewart (Palm Harbor, Fla./East Lake) added 11 coming off the bench (nine in the second half) after making all four field goal attempts, including three 3-pointers. Junior forward Joey Burgos (Lawrence, Mass./Lawrence) contributed 10 points and five rebounds in a reserve role.
Western New England College held a 38-30 edge in rebounding and forced 19 turnovers. Junior forward Kyle Fredette (Wallingford, Vt.) and freshman forward Brendan Murphy (West Springfield, Mass.) each pulled down six rebounds. Senior guard Asif Abdul-Wadud (Springfield, Mass.) handed out eight assists
Endicott (4-10, 1-2 TCCC) shot 53.2% from the floor and blocked nine shots, including four by Martin and two by Burgos. Sophomore guard Graham Whitelaw (Kennebunk, Maine/Cheverus) had six assists. The Gulls look to get back on track Tuesday night as they host Anna Maria at 6:00 pm.
