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Western New England closes strong to top UNE, 92-74

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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Tim Reilly and Mike McGuire accounted for all but two of a 19-4 finishing stretch that gave Western New England University a 92-74 decision over the University of New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action Saturday afternoon (Jan. 18) at the Harold Alfond Forum.

The Golden Bears (11-5) maintain their piece of the three-way tie atop the league standings at 6-1, while the Nor'easters (8-8) slip back to 2-5 in CCC outings.

Reilly led all scorers with 30 points, and McGuire supported with 21. The pair combined to make 11 three-pointers -- part of the 15-for-37 performance from downtown that out-scored UNE by 30. Zachary Tavitian contributed 18 points, a team-high seven rebounds, and three rejections to the Western New England effort. Alex Sikorski added 11 points, and Jared Sancho supplied eight points, five boards, and four blocks off the bench. Nick DeGennaro had 10 assists to help the visitors shoot 45 percent from the floor in the match.

Jackson McCoy topped the Nor'easters with 15 points and nine caroms. Avery DeBrito went for 13 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Siddiq Canty, Alex Kravchuk, and Ray Evans ended with 12, 11, and nine points, respectively.

UNE hit just 36 percent of its field-goal tries in the game, and only made 5-of-24 from behind the arc.

The hosts jumped out to a 12-5 advantage, but McGuire erased that on his own (13-12) in just over a minute. Reilly (9) and the Golden Bears soon turned in a 17-3 spurt to set the gap to 31-20. The Nor'easters narrowed the spread to 44-39 at the break, with the aid of 10 second-chance points from 11 offensive boards in the period.

Not to be outdone, Western New England used the offensive glass (9) to produce 15 second-chance points in the closing frame. The margin shifted back into double digits (as high as 12) during the initial portion of the 2nd half, until nine unanswered by UNE trimmed the deficit to 65-62 with 10:26 left. Sikorski and Canty traded deep treys (68-65) not long before Evans notched a three-point play to make it 73-70 with 6:43 remaining.

The Nor'easters will stay at home to square off with Gordon College on Wednesday (7:30 p.m.).