BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman Jherson Colon (Boston, Mass.) scored 16 points and the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team held a decisive, 50-27 rebounding edge as the Leopards defeated Curry, 72-59, in Commonwealth Coast Conference action played at Tansey Gymnasium.

With the win the Leopards improve to 3-4 overall and even their CCC record to 1-1, while the Colonels slip to 1-5 (1-1).

Curry took an early, 6-3 lead as junior Matt Russell (South Portland, Maine) had four points and senior Lambros Papalambros (Quincy, Mass.) added a basket of his own. Wentworth countered with four straight points thanks to a jumper from sophomore Cam Sennick (Wilton, Maine) and a layup from junior Nico Donato (Glastonbury, Conn.) to take a 7-6 lead with 13:44 left in the opening frame.

Just 14 seconds later freshman Rodney Beldo (Dorchester, Mass.) gave the Colonels an 8-7 lead with a layup of his own, however the Leopards would take the lead for good by using a 9-0 run over the next 5:49, capped off by a pair of junior Ray Bessette (Dedham, Maine) free throws.

After Curry trimmed the lead to five Wentworth upped its lead to as many as 13 before the Colonels would cut the lead to nine with 1:14 left on a freshman Kenneth Ramos (Dorchester, Mass.) transition layup. The Leopards scored the final six points of the half – capped off by a senior Derek Mayo buzzer beater – to take a 35-20 lead into the locker room. Through 20 minutes the hosts held the Colonels to 29.6 percent shooting from the floor and held a 30-12 edge on the glass.

In the second half the Black & Gold maintained a double digit lead, pulling ahead by as many as 17 on a pair of Sennick free throws with 9:00 left. After a pair of free throws from Papalambros would trim the lead to 14 with 6:21 left, Bessette and Colon scored on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 18 – Wentworth's largest of the game.

However, Curry used a 10-0 run over the next 2:43 to cut the lead to eight as Papalambros would have half of his team's points during that stretch and trailed, 64-56, after a pair of Beldo free throws with 3:22 left.

The Leopards would hold the Colonels to just three points over the final 3:22 and extended their lead to as many as 14 before claiming the 13-point win.

Bessette scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Mayo had nine points, 11 rebound, and four assists. Donato and Sennick each chipped in with nine points, with Sennick also adding eight rebounds and Donato recording four steals. Senior Scott Moran (Orange, Conn.) scored eight for the Leopards.

Beldo led all scorers with 18 points, while Papalambros added 11 to go along with four steals. After being held to just under 30 percent shooting in the first half, the Colonels shot just under 48 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes.

Wentworth is idle until December 30 when the Leopards play Vassar at the Trinity Holiday Tournament. That same day, Curry is at Wesleyan.

WENTWORTH 72, CURRY 59
CURRY (1-5, 1-1 CCC)
Rodney Beldo 4-8 10-12 18; Lambros Papalambros 2-10 7-8 11; Matthew Russell 3-8 3-6 9; Antonio Jones 3-7 1-2 8; Carlos Ribeiro 2-8 0-0 5; Kenneth Ramos 1-3 0-0 2; Jordan Vieira 1-1 0-0 2; Thomas McLean 1-1 0-4 2; Stephen O'Neal 1-2 0-0 2; George Potter 0-0 0-0 0; Valvel Temin 0-0 0-0 0; Anastasios Filippou 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 21-32 59.
WENTWORTH (3-4, 1-1 CCC)
Jherson Colon 5-14 4-5 16; Ray Bessette 4-7 2-2 11; Nico Donato 3-7 3-4 9; Cam Sennick 3-8 3-4 9; Derek Mayo 4-7 1-4 9; Scott Moran 2-5 3-4 8; John-Michael Fragnoli 2-6 2-3 6; Ronnie Turner 1-3 0-0 2; Ian Therriault 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 25-60 18-26 72.
Curry.........................   20   39  -   59
Wentworth.....................   35   37  -   72
3-point goals--Curry 2-10 (Antonio Jones 1-3; Carlos Ribeiro 1-5; Lambros Papalambros 0-1; Rodney Beldo 0-1), Wentworth 4-15 (Jherson Colon 2-5; Ray Bessette 1-3; Scott Moran 1-1; Derek Mayo 0-2; Ronnie Turner 0-1; Ian Therriault 0-1; Nico Donato 0-2). Fouled out--Curry-Thomas McLean; Rodney Beldo, Wentworth-None. Rebounds--Curry 27 (Matthew Russell 6), Wentworth 50 (Derek Mayo 11). Assists--Curry 7 (Antonio Jones 2; Rodney Beldo 2), Wentworth 15 (Derek Mayo 4). Total fouls--Curry 22, Wentworth 20. Technical fouls--Curry-None, Wentworth-None. A-175