MILTON, Mass. – Senior John-Michael Fragnoli (Schenectady, N.Y.) poured in a career-high 23 points on 11-for-13 shooting to help pace the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team to its fourth straight win, cruising to a 72-53 win over Curry in Commonwealth Coast Conference action.
After starting the season at 0-4, the Leopards now stand at 4-4 overall and are 3-0 in CCC play for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign. The Colonels fall to 2-6 overall and 0-3 in league play after suffering their third straight defeat.
Wentworth claimed its largest lead of the first period (30-12) after senior Nico Donato (Glastonbury, Conn.) drained a three-pointer with 7:50 on the clock. Curry closed out the remainder of the first half with a 15-6 run, which was capped off with a layup by sophomore Paul Preziosi (Quincy, Mass.) with 12 seconds left, trimming the deficit to nine (36-27) heading into intermission.
To start the second half, Curry scored six of the first eight points, pulling to within five (40-35) with 15:39 remaining in the game. However, that would be as close as the hosts would come as Wentworth answered with a 24-8 scoring stretch to take its largest lead of the game (64-43) with 4:31 on the clock and maintained a steady lead throughout the remaining minutes of the game to claim their first win in Milton since February 12, 2011.
In addition to his game-high 23 points, Fragnoli also pulled down a team-high six boards. Senior Ray Bessette (Dedham, Maine) added 10 points, five rebounds, and five assists, while freshman Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) chipped in with eight points off the bench. Wentworth shot a season-high .519 from the floor and owned the boards with a 40-23 advantage.
Sophomore James Pina (Warwick, R.I.) paced the Colonels with a team-best 12 points, six rebounds, and four steals. Senior Antonio Jones (Dorchester, Mass.) scored 10 points, while freshman Matt McLean (Miami, Fla.) recorded nine points.
Wentworth is idle until December 29 when the Leopards play Division I Boston University while Curry resumes play Saturday at Becker.
