MILTON, Mass.- The Curry College men's basketball team suffered a 81-54 setback to the Wentworth Institute of Technology in conference play on Wednesday night at the Katz Gymnasium. The win moves the Leopards to 5-9 overall and 3-4 in CCC play while the Colonels fall to 1-13 overall and 0-7 in conference play.
The contest was back and forth early as the teams traded each of the first eight points. The Leopards began to build a lead when Matt Vartanian (Salem, N.H. ) converted a layup and then Dan DeVaux (Wethersfield, Conn.) knocked down a three to cap a 5-0 run to put Wentworth up, 13-8.
Curry began to chip away at the deficit, pulling to within one with 9:14 on the clock after a layup by James Pina (Warwick, R.I.). They would take a one point lead at the 7:19 mark in the half after Pina got hit and converted the layup to put the Colonels up, 21-20.
Wentworth answered right back and opened up an eight point lead with an 8-0 run. The lead eventually hit double figures with 2:02 to go in the first half following a three-pointer by DeVaux to make the lead, 34-24.
The Colonels would trail by nine heading into the locker room at the halftime intermission, 34-25.
The Leopards came out of the locker room and built a 20 point advantage after Vartanian converted a layup to put Wentworth up 53-33 with 11:41 remaining in regulation. The lead would eventually balloon to 25 and as many as 29 in the final stanza of play as Wentworth would get past Curry by an 81-54 final.
Wentworth was led by Vartanian and DeVaux, who tallied 24 and 22 points, respectively. Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) put up eight while Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) and Cesar Fulcar (Watertown, Mass.) had seven points apiece.
Curry was paced by Kieran Carroll (Greenwich, Conn.), who finished one rebound away from a double-double. The freshman ended up with 10 points on the night. Jordan George-Bellitti (Cambridge, Mass.) put up nine points while Luke Schreiner (Breezy Point, N.Y.) finished the game with eight points, three rebounds, and two assists.
Wentworth outshot Curry from both the field and the three point line in the contest. The Colonels won the rebounding battle, 38-37 while the Leopards scored 32 points off of 21 Curry turnovers.
Curry will next play on Saturday at 3 p.m. when they welcome the University of New England into the Katz Gymnasium. Wentworth will also be in action on Saturday as they are set to host Salve Regina at 3 p.m.
