BIDDEFORD, Maine - Curry College used a 22-3 second half run to erase a 15-point deficit and grab the lead, then held on down the stretch for a 91-86 The Commonwealth Coast Conference victory over the University of New England in men's basketball action Tuesday evening at the Campus Center.
Senior guard Mark Mastrullo (Billerica, Mass.) led the way for the Colonels (5-7, 2-0 TCCC) with a game-high 23 points -- 15 of which came after halftime. He also tallied six rebounds, four steals, and went 13 of 15 from the charity stripe.
Junior Chris Bonadies (Medford, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 20 points and 15 boards in support. Classmate Michael Worrick (North Grafton, Mass.) and sophomore Jarrell Jackson (Brockton, Mass.) scored 14 points apiece, and senior Philippe Jourdain (Cambridge, Mass.) added 10 before fouling out in the second half.
Sophomore Victor Oruonyehu (Austin, Texas) paced the Nor'easters (4-8, 1-1 TCCC) with 17 points. Classmate Marcus Winn (Austin, Texas) connected of 5-of-6 three-pointers to finish with 15, and senior Marchale Robinson (Baton Rouge, La.) chipped in with 12.
Sophomore Anthony Johnson (Austin, Texas) posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while junior guard Kadare Brown (Baton Rouge, La.) scored nine, dished out eight assists, and picked up four steals.
Leading by two (41-39) at the break, a quick 13-2 spurt pushed the UNE advantage to 54-41 less than four minutes into the frame. By the 13:05 mark, the Nor'easters held their largest cushion of the game at 15 (64-49).
Curry made eight of its next nine shots from the floor, storming back to take a 71-67 lead with 6:06 remaining. The Colonels would not trail again.
The lead would grow as high as nine (85-76) with 1:09 left to play. UNE narrowed the margin to four twice in the final seconds, but could not get any closer.
Despite a combined 58 turnovers and 52 fouls, Curry managed to hang on for the win behind 55.2 percent (32 of 58) shooting from the field in the game. The Nor'easters connected on only 38.2 percent (29 of 72) of their shot attempts, and made just 11 of 40 (27.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
Early in the contest, UNE built a 29-15 lead midway through the opening stanza. The Colonels responded with 16 unanswered points to get back on top, before UNE reclaimed the advantage (41-39) going into intermission.
Both teams return to the court on Saturday at 3 p.m. Curry is set to host Regis College, while the Nor'easters will look to bounce back against Salve Regina University.
Box Score/Play-By-Play
