Salve Regina wins third straight CCC game; 74-64 over Curry

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SEAHAWK MEN'S BASKETBALL RESULTS
Salve Regina 74, Curry 64
Newport, R.I. - Rodgers Rec. Ctr.
Saturday, January 28, 2017

Summary
NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University senior forward Nicholas Bates (Danvers, Mass.) registered his fourth straight double-double, and 12th of the season, to lead his team to its third straight victory, 74-64, over Curry College in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action at the Rodgers Recreation Center.

Bates finished with 24 points and 16 rebounds while teammate and fellow captain Rodney Morton (Malden, Mass.) contributed 22 points for the Seahawks. Colonel freshman guard Kieran Carroll (Greenwich, Conn.) paced the visitors with 19 points.

Series and Streaks
The Seahawks sweep the season series (winning on a Connor Costello buzzer beater earlier this month at Milton) and lead the overall series, 34-26. Salve Regina has won six of the last eight meetings, four in a row. Only two of the last nine meetings have been decided by more than four points (today, and last year's 81-61 Seahawk victory at Milton on Jan. 23, 2016). The last time Curry won a conference game came in overtime against Salve Regina, 84-80, on Feb. 21, 2015 (0-30 in CCC since then).

Three Stars of the Game

1. Salve Regina senior forward Nicholas Bates (Danvers, Mass.) nearly had a double-double by halftime (13 points, nine rebounds) while playing 16 minutes. He finished with his 12th double-double of the season with 24 points and 16 rebounds. He ranks fourth in the league in scoring (18.8 ppg) and second in rebounding (11.6 rpg).
2. Salve Regina junior Rodney Morton (Malden, Mass.) ran his streak of 20 or more points in home games to seven, finishing with 22 including seven of nine from the charity stripe.
3. Salve Regina sophomore Isaiah Bowman (Duxbury, Mass.) had his second-highest point total of the season with 17 points including four 3-pointers.

Key Stat of the Game
Salve Regina made 50 percent (16-of-32) of its shots from the floor in the first half while building a 43-26 advantage by intermission.

Turning Point
A 9-0 run by Curry came courtesy of three 3-pointers (two by Jared Thorpe-Johnson, one by Kieran Carroll) and made it a two-possession game with under 10 minutes remaining. Salve Regina, which never trailed or tied after scoring the game's first two baskets, outscored Curry, 16-12, in the final eight and a half minutes.

Quick Hits

• Salve Regina has its second three-game win streak of the season; last winning on consecutive dates in Nov. 22-27-30.
• Rodney Morton now averages 24.7 points per game at the Rodgers Recreation Center this season (seven games).
• Salve Regina's current win streak started with an eight-point home win against University of New England last Saturday, 70-62, and now the Seahawks have a full-game lead over the Nor'easters for the seventh spot in the CCC standings. The two teams split their regular-season series.
• Kieran Carroll had a team-high 19 points on eight of 10 from the floor, including three of four from 3-point range.
• Jared Johnson went four for six from behind the arc and finished with 14 points for the visitors.

Quotes
"Moving in the right direction; it's the second time around the league, seeing everybody we have a little more familiarity and makes game-planning easier. We've had a couple of games where we've gotten stops when we needed to, holding teams close to 60 (points). We're right in the middle, we're all bunched up, playing for our playoff lives." - Salve Regina head coach Sean Foster

Next Up
Salve Regina (7-11, 5-7 CCC) - Tuesday, January 31 at Roger Williams University, 7:30 p.m.
Curry (1-18, 0-12 CCC) - Tuesday, January 31 at Gordon College, 5:30 p.m.