CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Wheelock men’s basketball team winning streak came to an abrupt halt Thursday night as the Wildcats fell to the Curry Colonels 74-70 in the final minute of play in front of a packed crowd for the home opener.  Curry had four players in double-digits, led by junior Rodney Bennett (Mattapan, Mass.), who scored 20 points to lead all scores on the night.

Curry played nothing like a team still searching for the first win of the season, and led for most of the second half. Finally, with 3:04 remaining and facing a nine point deficit, Wheelock head coach John Preziosa turned on the full-court press, resulting in three consecutive Colonel turnovers and a 9-1 run to tie the game at 69 on a lay-up by junior captain Patsy Dinuzzo (Beaver, Penn.). Dinuzzo, who was fouled on the play, then drained the free-throw to give the Wildcats a 70-69 lead, and their first of the game since the 4:24 mark in the first half.

Senior Philippe Jourdain (Cambridge, Mass.) responded by nailing a pair of free-throws of his own to give Curry a 71-70 lead. The Colonels then capitalized on a pair of Wheelock turnovers in the final half-minute of play to set the final score to 74-70.

The Wildcats had four players in double-digits as fellow captains Dinuzzo and Sherard Robbins (Malden, Mass.) each a team-high 16 points. Dinuzzo was 5-11 from the field including three triples on the night. Max Kaim (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Dan Main (Hopedale, Mass.) scored 12 and 10 points respectively, while Main led on the boards with nine.

A.J. Stephens (Stamford, Conn.) and Mark Mastrullo (Billerica, Mass.) each scored 18 points for Curry, while Jourdain scored 12. Wheelock will next face off against Gordon College next Tuesday while Curry travels to Newbury College on Saturday.