BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore guard Derek Mayo (Casco, Maine) scored 17 points to go along with five bounds, five assists, and four steals as the Wentworth men's basketball team clinched the number two seed for the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament with a 78-59 win over Curry.
The win snaps a two-game losing streak for the Leopards, who finish the regular season with a 16-9 overall record, 12-6 in CCC play. Wentworth will host Gordon in a quarterfinal round game on Tuesday night. Curry falls to 11-14 overall and finishes tied for fifth in CCC play with Roger Williams. The Colonels earn the fifth seed and will travel to fourth-seeded Nichols, also on Tuesday.
Wentworth, which led from start to finish, scored the game's first seven points as a 3-pointer from senior guard Eric Prue (Auburn, Maine) was sandwiched between a putback from freshman forward John-Michael Fragnoli (Scotia, N.Y.) and a layup from Mayo. The Colonels scored the next three points to cut the lead to four and would trail by that many with 14:56 left before the leopards went on a 7-0 run, capped off by a conventional 3-point play from sophomore forward Davon Daniels (Paterson, N.J.).
Curry used a 9-0 – with three of those points coming from sophomore guard Lambros Papalambros (Quincy, Mass.) to make it a 19-15 game and a layup by junior guard Sedale Jones (Pittsfield, Mass.) made it a two-point game with 9:52 to play in the half.
Prue scored the next five points push the lead to seven with 7:20 left before Jones hit two free throws to cut the lead to five (24-19). Wentworth upped the lead to double digits when junior guard Colin Johnson (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) buried a shot from behind the arc and Mayo converted a layup. A Johnson free throw made it an 11-point game and Wentworth would lead by nine (36-27) at the break.
The Leopards led by as many as 13 early in the second half on a pair of occasions and upped their lead to 14 when Johnson converted a 3-point play with 12:31 left. Curry would answer with four straight points from Jones, but a 3-pointer from Prue began an 11-2 run that saw Wentworth's lead increase to 19.
Curry used an 8-0 run – with six of those points coming from Jones – to cut the deficit to 11 with 5:37 left in the game, however, Wentworth broke the game open with a 12-0 run.
Prue added 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while junior guard Corey Therriault (Auburn, Maine) had 13 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Adam Dombrowski (Dunstable, Mass.) and freshman guard Nico Donato (Glastonbury, Conn.) had nine and eight points, respectively.
Jones connected on 6-of-12 shots from the floor and 11-of-12 from the charity stripe to finish with a game-high 23 points. Papalambros also scored in double figures for Curry with 10 points.
