WORCESTER, Mass. – The Curry College men's basketball team connected on 10 three-pointers in a 76-69 victory over Clark University in the opening games for both squads in the Holiday Classic hosted by the Cougars on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at the Kneller Athletic Center.

Sophomore RJ Hadfield (Warwick, R.I.) led the attack for the Colonels with a game-high 20 points while adding two assists and one steal. Alex Stein pitched in with a season-high 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting including 4-for-8 from three-point land. Junior Kieran Carroll (Greenwich, Conn.) finished with eight points, four boards, two assists, and one block. Freshman Jon Joel (Cranston, R.I.) tallied a season-high eight points off the bench while junior Dwyane Boothe (Jamaica, N.Y.) recorded eight of his own, also in a reserve role.

Curry scored eight of its 16 first-half field goals from beyond the arc and led 44-43 at the break. Hadfield and Stein combined for 25 first-half points, knocking down seven triples. Junior Spencer Feng (Keene N.H.) contributed the final three en route to five points in the opening stanza.

The Colonels started the second half with back-to-back buckets from Carroll to stretch the Curry lead to five, 48-43. The contest hung in the balance until the 14:29 mark as Clark's Tyler Davern (Webster) converted on a layup to pull within two at 53-51. A quick 5-0 run helped Curry stretch the lead to seven, 58-51. The Colonels were able to sustain a late surge by the Cougars as they cut the deficit to two in the final stanza of regulation, but the run was not strong enough. The Colonels were able to extend the lead to eight on a jumper from Stein with 4:47 remaining. Clark had one final run in them as they used a 5-0 run to trim the deficit to four, 72-68 with under three minutes left. Four points from Joel helped the Curry ice the game and put the Colonels up eight, 76-68, with 1:03 remaining. The Cougars added a free throw with under 20 seconds left to make the final score, 76-69.

Curry held the edge in shooting on the afternoon, tallying a 47.2 percentage from the floor (25-for-53). Clark shot 34.8 percent from the floor for the contest (24-for-69). The Cougars held the edge in rebounding, 44-36 and won the turnover battle, 19-15. The home squad turned the 19 turnovers into 21 points.  

Curry (1-10 overall) will close play in the Clark University Basketball Holiday Classic against Worcester State on Sunday, December 30 at 4:00 p.m. Clark plays host to Wentworth on Sunday at 10:00 a.m.

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