Springfield, Mass. - November 18, 2014 - The Springfield College men's basketball team used a late second-half charge to pull away with a 90-77 win over Western New England on Tuesday evening in non-conference play.

The Pride posted its third-straight win to begin the year, marking the fourth-consecutive season that Springfield owns a 3-0 record.  The loss drops the Golden Bears to 1-2.

Springfield was paced by five players in double digits in the scoring column as Tim Swenson (Millbury, Mass.) led the Pride with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Alex Garstka (Westfield, Mass.) chipped in 17 points and eight assists in his first start of the season.  Both Sean Martin (Rindge, N.H.) and Nick Sienkiewicz (Cranston, R.I.) registered 15 points and Josh Altman (Rockport, Mass.) netted 14 points.

The Pride shot 32-for-65 (49.2%) for the game and had nine three-pointers, including three from Sienkiewicz.  Springfield was also credited with 23 assists on the night.

Western New England build a six-point lead for much of the first half. The Golden Bears' half-court offense set Zack Askew (Middletown, Conn.) up on the high post and he knocked down three early jumpers.

After trading blows for the entire first half and neither team gaining more than a two-possession lead, the Golden Bears drained a three-pointer to give the hosts a 39-32 lead going into the intermission.

Springfield trailed by as much as 10 early in the second half before back-to-back triples from Altman kickstarted a 9-0 surge that brought the Pride within 42-41 with 18:14 left in regulation. Garstka finished off a feed from Andy McNulty (West Springfield, Mass.) at the 14:38 mark to put Springfield up for good, but WNE would not go away quietly.

The Golden Bears clawed their way back within 62-59 with 10:17 on the clock, only to have  a pair of fast break buckets from Martin highlight a 10-2 push to give Springfield a comfortable 11 point lead with just over seven to play. 

The visiting Pride would go on to lead by as many as 15 in the contest en route to the non-league win.

Springfield will play its home opener on Thursday evening when it hosts local-foe Elms College at at 7:00 pm in Blake Arena.