MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's basketball team lost a 59-40 conference contest to the visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday night at the Katz Gymnasium. With the win, the Leopards improve to 5-11 overall and 3-5 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) while the Colonels fall to 1-16 overall and 0-8 in league play. The game marked

Curry grabbed the early lead, thanks to a 13-0 run keyed by three straight triples, two from junior Spencer Feng (Keene, N.H.) and the last one from sophomore RJ Hadfield (Warwick, R.I.). The three from Hadfield prompted a Wentworth timeout. Following the break, junior Jared Thorpe-Johnson (Dorchester, Mass.) capped the run with a three of his own to grab an 11-point lead at 13-2 with 15:01 to go in the first half. Wentworth answered back with a 12-0 spurt of its own, with eight points coming from freshman Noah Bice (Woodacre, Calif.) as the Leopards were able to reclaim the lead at 14-13 with 9:48 to play in the opening stanza.

Wentworth created some separation starting at the 6:01 mark after sophomore Gavin Keough (Dunstable, Mass.) knocked down a three push the lead to three. The run would eventually hit 13-0 as the Leopards stretched its advantage to double digits (30-17). The Colonels cut the Wentworth lead to nine before the halftime intermission after junior Kieran Carroll (Greenwich, Conn.) and Thorpe-Johnson connected on buckets to make the score, 32-23.

The visitors extended its lead back to double digits following the opening points of the second half from Keough. The deficit for Curry reached 14 with 17:06 remaining in regulation and Wentworth never looked back. The Leopards stretched its lead to as many as 19 in the second stanza after junior Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) converted a layup with 2:09 left to make the score 59-40, the eventual final.

Azums paced the Leopards with a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds. Bice tied his season-high for points with 15 on 6-for-14 shooting and added three rebounds, five assists, and one steal. Keough rounded out the players in double figures for Wentworth with 14 points.

Thorpe-Johnson led the Colonels with 10 points on 5-for-14 from the field and pitched in with seven rebounds. Feng contributed eight points on 3-for-7 shooting, five rebounds, and one steal. Carroll pitched in eight points, three boards, one assist, and one steal off the bench to pace the reserves.

Curry shot 17-for-55 from the floor for 30.9 percent while Wentworth registered a 43.4 percentage on 23-for-53. The visitors had the edge on the boards, 45-26. The Colonels had the advantage in the turnover column, only committing nine, which turned into nine points for the Leopards.  

Curry will next play at Nichols College on Saturday, January 19 for a 3:00 p.m. tip. Wentworth returns home to host Salve Regina on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

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