Senior guard Jon Godbout (Bristol, CT) led four players in double figures with a game high 22 points as the third-seeded Golden Bears routed sixth-seeded Suffolk University 95-66 in a quarterfinal round game of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament.
Western New England College (14-12) will visit second-seeded Norwich University (a 79-57 winner over seventh-seeded Southern Vermont) on Thursday night.
Suffolk, who defeated WNEC twice during the regular season, took an early 4-1 lead 3:07 in the game before the Golden Bears unleashed a barrage of three-pointers (8-for-15) to take a 45-29 lead at half-time.
Godbout was instrumental in the opening half by scoring 18 points, making all three of his three-point attempts.
Sophomore guard Ryan Hernandez (Hampton Bays, NY) provided a big spark off the bench with 17 points (nine in the first half) after connecting on 5-of-9 treys.
Freshman guard Matt Maynard (Paterson, NJ) had a great all-around game with 14 points, eight assists, six rebounds, and three steals. Sophomore guard Asif Abdul-Wadud (Springfield, MA) contributed a season high 11 points (5-of-6 from the field) off the bench as the reserves totaled 41 points.
Suffolk had two players scoring in double figures as junior guard Brad Schoonmaker (Southington, CT) had 21 points (7-for-11 from the floor) while junior guard John Murphy (North Reading, MA) had 13 points. The Rams finish their season with an 11-15 record.
Western New England College shot 51.6% from the field and made 13-of-23 three-pointers (56.5%) in compiling its third highest scoring output of the season.
It also was a special night for Golden Bears head coach Mike Theulen who had his father Glenn watch the game from the bench. Mike played for his dad at Keene State in the late 1970’s.