WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Curry College opened up a 16-point halftime lead, and held on in the second frame despite a late rally from King's College on way to a 71-65 win in the opening game of the Wilkes-Barre Challenge Sunday at Wilkes University's Martz Center.
 
With the loss, King's slips to 5-5 overall on the season, while Curry improves to 2-7 on the year.
 
Curry opened the game with a 10-4 lead before rookie Kyle Hammonds connected from behind the arc to cut the deficit to three at the 16:06 mark. King's went inside early and often as senor Kevin Conroy converted three straight times from the charity stripe to keep the Monarchs within four, 17-13 midway through the first half. Curry used a 6-0 run over the next four minutes to extend their lead to 29-18. Conroy was fouled again and sank two more from the stripe to keep King's in striking distance down nine, 29-20. Another 6-0 run to end the half gave Curry a 37-21 advantage, their largest of the game, heading into the break.
 
Curry continued its hot shooting in the first seven minutes of the second half, extending their lead to 47-29 following a Michael Connery three-pointer. From there, the Monarchs slowly chipped away at the lead, using a 7-0 run over a three minute span to cut the margin to 11 points at 49-38. Freshman Joe Caffrey opened the run with a jumper, and Hammons drilled his second trey before Conroy made good from the foul line to cap off the run. King's would pull to within six at 65-59 after a Nick Resig three-pointer with just over a minute left to play. Following a missed free throw from Curry's Eric Guglielmello, King's senior Adam Brasky scored inside to pull the Monarchs to within four, 65-61 with 45 seconds remaining. King's was forced to foul over the next twenty seconds, where Curry connected on six of eight free throws to preserve the win.  
 
Hammonds led King's with 16 points and eight rebounds. Conroy, King's leading scorer, finished without a field goal, going 12-of-14 from the charity stripe for 12 points and four rebounds. Reisig added 12 points, while Brasky finished with a season-high 11 points including two treys. As a team, King's shot just 33.9 percent (19-56) from the floor and 28.6 percent (6-21) from behind the arc.
 
Guglielmello topped Curry with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Jarrell Jackson added 14 points and four rebounds, while Sedale Jones contributed 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Curry faired much better from the floor, shooting 50.0 percent (27-54) from the field.
 
King's will return to action tomorrow when they face Albany Pharmacy at 5:30 p.m. in the second day of the Wilkes-Barre Challenge, while the Colonels will take on host Wilkes University at 7:30 p.m. (Game recap courtesy of King’s College Sports Information)

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