MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's basketball team saw a furious comeback come up short in a 125-109 loss to the visiting University of New England on Thursday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference action. The win moves the Nor'easters to 5-10 overall and 3-3 in the CCC while the Colonels dip to 1-14 overall and 0-6 in league play. The 234 combined points ties a school record of most points in a game, matching the same 234 scored in a 135-99 loss to the very same UNE squad last season.

Sophomore DeMarquez Hadnot (Pflugerville, Texas) netted a team-high 27 points and added four rebounds and one steal to pace the Nor'easters. Sophomore Alex Kravchuck (Mansfield, Conn.) shot 5-for-9 from the floor for 16 points. Sophomore Jordan Bagshaw (Cumberland, Maine) chipped in 12 boards and three boards. Senior Ryan Beatty (Rochester, Mass.) hit five three-pointers and finished with 14 points while sophomore Drake Gavin (Old Lyme, Conn.) contributed 11 points to round out the scorers in double figures.

Curry shot 50.7 percent as a team and 37.5 percent from three-point range. Junior Jared Thorpe-Johnson (Dorchester, Mass.) led all scorers with 29 points and shot 10-for-18 from the floor. He narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Senior Alex Stein (Mount Olive, N.J.) poured in a season-high 25 points on 8-for-15 shooting, including 5-for-8 from distance. Sophomore RJ Hadfield (Warwick, R.I.) registered 20 points, knocking down seven field goals, six of which were threes. Junior Dwayne Boothe (Jamaica, N.Y.) tallied 10 points and nine rebounds and Junior Kieran Carroll (Greenwich, Conn.) pitched in a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

The game hung in the balance for first five minutes as Curry was able to grab five-point lead following a layup from Thorpe-Johnson to make to the score 11-6. UNE used a 5-0 run to knot the contest at 13. The three-point barrage began as the teams hit shots from distance on three straight possessions. The Nor'easters began to pull away at the 9:07 mark of the first half after Kravchuck converted on a three-pointer to push the lead to nine (35-26). The Colonel deficit reached 20 following a three from DeBrito to make the score 64-44. Curry closed the final 1:28 of the half with five straight points as UNE entered the half with a 64-49 lead.  

Curry trailed by 15 at the break but rallied back with a trio of from Hadfield to cut the deficit to just 11 (113-102) with 3:04 to go in regulation. The Colonels were able to trim it to 10 on an old fashioned three-point play from Stein (Mount Olive, N.J.) with 1:59 to go. The Nor'easters answered back with an 8-0 run to stretch it back to 18. UNE hung on late to take the game by a 16-point margin.

The Colonels registered its seventh game of the season of knocking down at least 10 triples, going 12-for-32. The Nor'easters made 15-of-40 threes on the night.

The story of the game came down to the turnover column. UNE scored 51 points off of 34 Curry turnovers while the Colonels were only able to muster up 15 points off 19 UNE miscues.

Curry continues its season-long three-game homestand with a conference matchup on Saturday, January 12 against Western New England University at 3:00 p.m. The University of New England returns to action on Saturday at Nichols. Game time is slated for 3:00 p.m.  

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