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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- After giving up a 17-point cushion to fall behind by one in the latter portion of the 2nd half, Curry College responded with 14 of the next 20 and escaped with a 75-69 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball decision versus the University of New England on Wednesday night (Feb. 15) at Coach Beaudry's Court inside the Harold Alfond Forum.

The Nor'easters started the game of large momentum swings with a 14-3 stretch over the first five minutes of the evening, missing just once in that span. The Colonels soon countered with 13 in-a-row to go up 19-16, and settled on a 35-29 edge at the half. With the first 11 of the 2nd, capped by five from Angelo Sardegna, Curry increased the spread to 46-29.

UNE netted the next nine, though (46-38), and, following seven minutes of trying to cut further into that deficit, an 11-1 run briefly flipped the advantage with 7:07 left (59-58). Kyle Lombardi had six consecutive points for the hosts, before Sam McElliott converted a three-point play for the lead.

Sardegna connected from deep to make it 72-65 with 1:36 on the clock, but just one point on Curry's next four possessions left the door open for the Nor'easters. The Colonels turned it over once and missed two front-ends of 1-and-1 free throw chances around a Lombardi hoop with 0:42 showing (72-67), and then Winston Bryan grabbed an offensive board for a put-back layup (72-69) and the foul with 0:23 remaining. While the free throw bounced off, UNE had an opportunity to get even closer with another offensive rebound, but a steal by Tommy Mallinson got it back for Curry. The visitors made 1-of-2 at the line (73-69), and an offensive foul call on the hosts returned the ball to the Colonels. Sardegna sank the next two freebies to seal the result.

Sardegna scored 18 of his game-high 23 points after halftime, and finished 5-of-8 from downtown. Curry (5-19, 3-14 CCC) received another 16 points from Lowelle Torres, while Mallinson went for 10 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and four steals. Jason Romans added eight points with nine caroms.

Adrian Torres paced the Nor'easters (2-22, 0-17) with 16 points. McElliott supplied 13 points and nine rebounds, and Lombardi tallied all of his 12 points in the 2nd period. Zach Boulay contributed nine points.

The Colonels displayed better efficiency from long range (58.8%) than they did inside the arc (48.6%), on the way to 52 percent for the match (27-for-52). Curry finished with a 15-point scoring edge from three-point land (30-15).

UNE pulled down 15 misses from the offensive glass and totaled a 38-33 edge in the rebounding department, which contributed to a 46-26 margin scoring in the paint. The hosts, who shot 43 percent from the floor in the contest (28-for-65), also produced 25 points from 19 CC turnovers.

The Nor'easters conclude the 2022-23 campaign on Saturday at Suffolk University.