Springfield, Mass. - November 9, 2022 - The Springfield College men's basketball team was defeated by Western New England, 89-55, in Blake Arena on Wednesday night in their season-opening tilt.

Daryl Costa (Providence, R.I.) tallied 11 points and Nick Bray (Hartford, Conn.) netted 10 points in the loss for the Pride, while John Paulino (New Bedford, Mass.) handed out a game-high five assists and Zeke Blauner (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) was credited with five steals.  The Pride shot 21-for-61 (34%) in the contest and committed 17 turnovers that resulted in 25 points for the Golden Bears.

WNE shot 52% in the contest, connecting on 33-of-64 attempts, including 12-of-27 from beyond the arc while also holding a 47-30 edge on the glass.  Jake Harrison and Tim Restall each had 17 points in the victory, while Brian Geitner added 15 points of his own. 

After a Costa bucket made it a 4-2 contest inside the opening three minutes of the game, WNE poured on a 15-1 run to open up a 19-3 edge at the 11:38 mark following a fast-break bucket by Cody Palazzeli. The Golden Bears would push the lead to 33-11 on a triple from Geitner at 6:23, but Springfield would answer with a 7-0 surge, as a three in transition from Paulino forced the visitors into a timeout with the WNE lead trimmed to 33-20 with just over three minutes left in the half.  However, the visitors would close out stanza on an 8-0 push to take a 41-20 lead into the break.  WNE had a 28-11 advantage in rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play and had a 16-6 scoring cushion in the paint. 

Blauner would score in the paint to start the second half for the Pride before WNE put together an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach.  Zander Robinson (East Hartford, Conn.) provided Springfield with some strong play down the stretch and contributed seven points and four boards in the final six-plus minutes of the game as WNE would pick up the non-conference win. 

Springfield will hit the court again on Saturday when it travels to play Lehman in the Western Connecticut Wolves Invitational at 7 pm. 

For the latest on Springfield College Athletics, follow the Pride on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Springfield "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.