Statistics
BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Up by two with 7:00 remaining, Curry College scored 19 of the next 22 points to come away with an 85-70 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball result against the University of New England on Wednesday night (Jan. 17) at Coach Beaudry's Court inside the Harold Alfond Forum.
Jason Romans paced the Colonels (8-8, 2-6 CCC) with 31 points that featured 5-of-7 accuracy from downtown, and Lowelle Torres accounted for 20. Mustafo Vanjov went 8-for-11 from the field on the way to 19 points, and grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds. Nick Johnson had eight points, eight caroms, and three steals. The visitors established a 49-37 advantage on the boards.
The difference on the scoreboard was primarily from the charity stripe, where Curry made 24-of-34 and UNE only attempted six (+20).
For the Nor'easters (5-11, 0-8),
Kyle Lombardi and
Jayden Thornton tallied 15 and 11 points, respectively, with all but two of those in the 1st half.
Adam Lux wound up with 14 points and seven boards.
Zach Federico added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Things were practically even in the opening 20 minutes, which had 17 lead-changes on the way to a 44-43 UNE edge. The Nor'easters scored seven straight to gain the largest lead of the period (25-18), and the hosts were still up by six until a 16-5 stretch by the Colonels flipped the cushion to 36-31. Three unanswered treys had UNE back ahead at 42-37; Lombardi and Thornton went a combined 6-of-9 from long distance in the stanza.
While Curry was fractionally improved with its shooting efficiency in the 2nd half (46.7%), the Nor'easters, who had been slightly better than their opponent in the 1st, slipped to 27 percent following halftime. After the Colonels scored eight in-a-row to move in front at 62-55, and extended the margin to 66-57, seven points in less than one minute by UNE trimmed the deficit right back down to 66-64. However, when Roman hit a three-pointer with 5:44 on the clock, the spread was restored to nine (73-64).
The Nor'easters remain at home to face Western New England University on Saturday (3 p.m.).
