Over the last handful of years, Cranston native Jonathan Joel has been suiting up for the men’s basketball team at Curry College, who have been hovering around the .500 mark this winter in a pleasant change compared to the Colonels’ recent past.
The program has endured a decade-long string of losing seasons with the undisputed low point coming in a winless 2015-16 campaign, but the Curry five currently own an 8-9 overall record that has been aided by a pair of wins in Commonwealth Coast play.
After failing in their first six attempts to enter the win column in league competition, the Colonels made the breakthrough on January 9 with a 67-66 victory over Gordon, overturning a three-point halftime deficit to the Fighting Scots.
Joel logged 14 minutes off the bench, pouring in five points to equal his season-high scoring output while also chipping in with a pair of assists and four rebounds, three of which came in the backcourt.
Eight days later, the Prout graduate tied another high mark on his personal ledger for the campaign, pulling down a half-dozen boards as the Colonels knocked off the University of New England via an 85-70 decision.
Taking part in all but one of Curry’s 17 contests, Joel has been one of the regular names summoned off the pine, averaging 11.5 minutes per game and establishing himself as one of his squad’s top distributors with 24 assists, good for fourth on the team.
In their most recent outing this past Saturday, the Colonels were unable to build on their earlier win over UNE and fell 87-67 to Nichols despite Lowelle Torres draining 13 field goals on his way to a game-best 31 points.
Curry will hit the road twice this week in a bid to return to winning ways, starting with a Tuesday trip to Wentworth before heading south on Saturday to pay a visit to Roger Williams in what will likely be Joel’s last game on Rhode Island soil.

Cranston West product Maylina Santiago has learned to play the waiting game during her first season as a member of the UMass-Boston women’s basketball team, making three appearances to date for the Beacons.
The ex-Falcon made her bow in a November 16 meeting against Worcester Polytechnic Institute, failing to connect on her lone shot from the field as the Engineers dealt UMass-Boston a 67-40 setback.
Santiago had to wait two more days to finally record her first collegiate point, sinking a free throw after being fouled by Fitchburg State’s Kathryn Hart in the final quarter of the Beacons’ 74-39 dismantling of the Falcons.
Her most recent stint on the court came in a December 9 clash with currently-unbeaten and third-ranked Rhode Island College, accruing four points and a pair of assists as UMass-Boston was outclassed by the Anchorwomen by a 90-40 score.
Saturday marks the rematch between the two teams, but before the 4-12 Beacons get their second crack at a potential upset they will have to venture to Western Connecticut for a Wednesday evening tilt with the Wolves, currently last in the Little East standings.