MILTON, Mass. – Junior Antonio Jones (Dorchester, Mass.) scored 20 first-half points and finished with a game high 27, leading Curry to a 64-58 victory over visiting Wentworth in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action Saturday afternoon in Milton. With the win, the Colonels improved to 4-13 on the season and 3-7 in conference play, while the Leopards fell to 8-9 overall and 5-5 in CCC action.
In the loss, senior Derek Mayo (Casco, Maine) scored 11 points and in the process became the 14th member of the Leopard men's basketball program to reach 1,000 points for their career. Mayo presently sits at 1,003 in 102 career games.
Curry closed the first half on a 5-0 run to claim a 29-23 halftime edge. Senior Lambros Papalambros (Quincy, Mass.) sank a pair from the charity stripe with 21 seconds on the clock and later gave Jones an assist on a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
With 5:17 left in the game, the Colonels took their largest lead (51-41) after senior Carlos Ribeiro (Charlestown, Mass) scored 13-straight points for his team, including three made shots from beyond the arc. The Leopards answered with an 11-2 run to trim the lead to one (53-52) with 2:19 on the clock. Freshman Jherson Colon (Boston, Mass) accounted for all 11 points during the run.
Papalambros scored the game's next six points, extending the lead back to seven (59-52) with 33 seconds remaining. Wentworth junior Ray Bessette (Dedham, Maine) sank a three-pointer on the following possession, and then the Leopards immediately fouled, sending Curry to the free-throw line for a one-and-one. The Colonels missed the first free throw, Wentworth secured the rebound and Bessette drilled another three to cut the lead to one (59-58) with 14 seconds remaining. Over the last 10 seconds of the game, Papalambros converted on five-of-six free-throw attempts to account for the 64-58 final.
Jones led all scorers with 27 points. Papalambros added 20, including 12-of-14 shooting from the free-throw line. Ribeiro chipped in with 13 points and a team-high six rebounds.
The Leopards were led by Colon with a team-best 14 points. In addition to his 11 points, Mayo also had a game-high 13 rebounds to record the double-double. Sophomore Ronnie Turner (Lewiston, Maine) contributed 10 points.
Both teams return to CCC action on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., with Curry hosting Western New England and Wentworth visiting Salve Regina.
(Recap courtesy of Curry Sports Information)
