Men's Basketball Overtakes Curry

MILTON, Mass. – Jack Connell scored a team-high 22 points to go along with eight assists and Tyler Stewart recorded a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while also blocking four shots, as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team picked up an 82-71 win over Curry in Conference of New England play on Wednesday night.

With the win, the Leopards improve to 7-13 overall and 6-7 in CNE play, while the Colonels fall to 2-18 (1-12).

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Curry raced out to a 9-2 lead in the game's first 3:48 with Favour Okeke scoring five straight points during the run. A pair of layups from Jack Connell and a three from Nathan Brinkman tied the game at 9-all with 13:57 left before the Colonels took a 15-11 lead on a Jaiden Mann jumper.
• The hosts pushed their lead to six with 9:28 left when Mann converted a three-point play, however, a pair of Jack Connell layups brought the lead to two and, after Mann made a jumper, Jayden Williams made it a 21-19 contest with 7:31 remaining. Williams followed with one of two free throws to cut the lead to 21-20 just over a minute later, and, after Mann hit a three, Connell countered with a three to start a 5-0 spurt that gave the Leopards a 25-24 lead.
• Five straight points from Mann put Curry on top, 29-25, with 4:24 to play. The Black & Gold closed out the first half on a 13-6 run and took a 38-35 lead into the locker room. During the run, Tyler Stewart had eight points.
• The teams traded three pointers to open the second half, with Nathaniel Smith's trifecta starting a 5-0 spurt that saw Jack Connell also make a jumper to make it 43-38. Curry pulled within one after scoring four consecutive points, including a pair of free throws from Okeke. Russell Dolabany extended the lead to three with a layup but, with 14:45 left, Malik Gelinas tied the game with a three pointer. At the 12:24 mark, Okeke put the Colonels ahead, 47-45 before consecutive threes from Sean Racette and Connell gave the Black & Gold a 51-47 lead.
• On a pair of occasions, Curry pulled within one, including when Shawn Charles made a layup to make it 55-54. A pair of free throws from Stewart started a 9-2 run that saw Wentworth take a 64-56 lead with 6:42 left.
• Wentworth extended its lead to 10 (70-60) on a layup from Nathan Brinkman with 3:58 left but the hosts would not go away quietly, using an 8-2 run to pull within four on a three from Mann with 1:58 left. Six straight free throws – including four from Brinkman – helped the Black & Gold pull away.
• In addition to Connell and Stewart, Brinkman scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds, and had five steals.
• Mann led all scorers with 30 points. Okeke added 12 and Gelinas chipped in with 11.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

• Today was the 70th all-time meeting between the two teams. Winners of the last 20 contests, Wentworth has a 46-24 series advantage.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth hosts the University of Hartford on Saturday.

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