The Johnson & Wales University men’s basketball team knocked off Western New England by a score of 56-43 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at the Harborside RAC on Thursday evening.
Senior Conor Moran (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) and fellow senior Brian Fernandes (Fall River, Mass.) led the way for Johnson & Wales with 13 points each while senior Brian Bannister (Boston, Mass.) added 10 points, five rebounds and two assists in the victory. Leading the way for WNEC was senior John Godbout (Bristol, Conn.) who tallied 13 points while sophomore Ryan Hernandez (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) added nine points in the setback for the Golden Bears.
Johnson & Wales controlled the early part of first half, jumping out to an early 17-6 advantage on a jumper by Fernandes with 10:27 left in the first half. Western New England responded, however and cut the Wildcats lead to just four when a three-pointer by Hernandez made the score 17-13 with 5:51 on the clock. JWU finished the first half on a 10-2 run and took a 23-15 lead into the locker room after holding WNEC to just 28.6% shooting while forcing 10 turnovers.
The Wildcats extended their lead early in the second half and took a 15 point lead at the 15:45 mark on a layup by Bannister, giving the team a 32-17 lead. Again, Western New England would respond and cut the lead to jus five points when a three-pointer by Hernandez made the score 40-35 with 8:11 remaining on the clock. That would be as close as the Golden Bears would get, however as the Wildcats hit 6-of-8 from the line in the final minute of the game to take the 56-43 victory.
With the win Johnson & Wales improves to 12-12 on the season, 10-7 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference while Western New England falls to 13-11, 11-6 in league. The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, February 18th when they host Southern Vermont in a GNAC contest at 3:00 p.m.
www.JWU.edu/prov/athletics
For more information, contact Dan Booth (401) 598-1632 or (401) 338-4093