By Hailey MacDonald, Editor-in-Chief
Western New England University’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams both kicked off their seasons in the Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center against Nichols College on March 5 and 6.
On Friday, March 5, the Women’s team faced off against Nichols at 4:30 p.m. and were victorious with a score of 60-38. They held the lead during the entirety of the game, and senior Emily Scurka held the most points of the day, finishing with 12.
Later, beginning at 6:30 p.m., the Men’s team fell to Nichols by a mere three points. With a final score of 77-74, the teams were neck-and-neck from the beginning, and the teams went back and forth in who was leading the score.
Senior Zach Tavitian, a vital four-year member of the Golden Bear’s squad, scored his 1,000 point after his final basket of the game on Friday night.
The women and men were back at it on Saturday afternoon, packing into a Peter Pan bus early in the morning to travel to Nichols College.
The Women’s team tipped off at 12:00 p.m. and fell to the Bison 66-63, which was a much closer game than the one less than 24 hours before. Again, Scurka led the Bears with 17 points, and junior Julia Quinn also netted 11 points.
The Golden Bears led most of the game, but their opponent had a strong fourth quarter that led them to victory.
The Men’s team faced off at 2:15 p.m. for a game that was even closer than the day before. The match went into overtime as the fourth quarter ended in a 57-57 tie, but the Bison finished on top with a score of 67-62.
Senior Alex Sikorski put up 28 points, and 17 points were tallied by junior Antonio Brancato. Their defense was strong, with junior Kevin Flynn accounting for 15 of the team’s rebounds.
