MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's basketball team fell to visiting Emmanuel College by a 76-70 final in their home opener on Tuesday night in non-conference action at the Katz Gymnasium. The Saints move to 1-2 on the young season while the Colonels slip to 1-3.

 

Curry outscored the Saints, 41-39 in the second half, but it was Emmanuel to secure their first win of the season. Emmett Riddick (Middletown, Conn.) scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and added a team-best five steals in the win. Joe Tamburro (South Windsor, Conn.) was the only other Emmanuel student-athlete in double figures with 13 and a game-high seven rebounds.

 

Curry was led by 18 points from Jared Thorpe-Johnson (Dorchester, Mass.), who put up 18 points, four boards and three steals. Kieran Carroll (Greenwich, Conn.) added 14 points and four rebounds while Akari Goodridge (Cambridge, Mass.) paced the offense off the bench with 11 points and five assists.

 

The Colonels jumped out to the early lead in the opening minutes of the contest, fueled by a 12-0 run to grab a nine point lead. The lead would reach double digits when Thorpe-Johnson knocked down a three with 12:02 left in the first stanza.

 

The Saints were on the comeback trail right away, cutting the one on a lay-up by Riddick and then took the lead with less than five minutes left when Zachary Crisafulli (Hatfield, Mass.) converted on a lay-up. The Curry deficit reached as many as nine as Jack Moulder (Newtown, Conn.) hit a three with 41 seconds to go in the first. The Colonels were able to score once more on a free throw by Goodridge as they entered the halftime intermission trailing by eight, 37-29.

 

Emmanuel added to their lead at the beginning of the second half, growing to as many as 13. The Colonels the deficit to as few as three nearly halfway through the second half after Spencer Feng (Keene, N.H.) hit a three to make the score 51-48 with 10:58 to go. The teams traded free throws over the next few minutes but Swarttz tied the contest at 51 with 9:06 remaining when he knocked down a shot from distance.

 

The Saints were able to reclaim and push it to as many as six over the final five minutes of action. Swarttz hit a three with 1:55 left to cut the deficit to one (68-67). With Emmanuel up by six with 26 seconds left, Thorpe-Johnson converted a three to cut the Saints lead to just three. Following the second of two 20 second timeouts, a turnover by Swarttz allowed Riddick to score with 10 seconds left and Tamburro put Emmanuel up six with six second left in regulation, 76-70. That would prove to be the final as Curry falls in consecutive contests. 

 

Curry will next play at New England College on Sunday, November 26 at 7:00 p.m. Emmanuel returns to action at home against Wesleyan University on Tuesday, November 28 at 7:00 p.m.