BEVERLY — The Endicott College men’s basketball team closed out the first half of Wednesday night’s game against Nichols with ease.
Nearly everything was working on the offensive end for the Gulls, including a barrage of three-pointers that had them ahead by almost 20 points at the break.
Closing out the second half, however, proved to be a far tougher task.
Endicott didn’t shoot particularly well after intermission and the visiting Bison made a furious comeback, getting to within four points. But some heady plays by sophomore guard Kamahl Walker and some big points from fellow sophomore guard Max Motroni allowed the hosts to hold on for an 85-80 win over a Nichols.
The win snapped what had been a five-game losing streak for Endicott (17-5) against the Bison, which had been a perfect 14-0 in Commonwealth Coast Conference play coming in.
“I knew that that’s an explosive team and they’re certainly capable of coming back, so every possession was so critical. We needed every point we got at the end of the first half when we were rolling a little bit,” explained Endicott skipper Kevin Bettencourt. “They did a good job regrouping and coming after us ... but I’m proud of my guys for holding on.”
Motroni (23 points) was 5-for-6 from 3-point territory and scored the Gulls’ final eight points of the first half as the home team shot just under 60 percent from the field and 6-for-11 from downtown. The second half was a much different story, though, with the Gulls hitting just one-third of their shots.
With Endicott ahead by just four with 22 seconds left, Motroni hit a pair of big free throws to extend the lead to six.
Walker led all scorers with 25 points, led Endicott in assists with five and added three steals and six rebounds. He also made big plays at big moments, including a nice dish to Andre Makris for an and-1; a feed to Motroni for one of his two 3-pointers in the second half; and, on maybe his most important play of the game, he stole a pass meant for an open Bison in the paint with under 90 seconds left and the Gulls up by eight.
He proceeded to go 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to push Endicott’s lead to 79-69. Walker had two big takeaways in the final three minutes.
“The two of those guys (Walker and Motroni) have had great years for me and they’ve been very consistent,” said Bettencout. “They are both really talented guys. Nichols comes after you with a ton of pressure, and those two guys’ ability to break down the defense and make some plays for our team was crucial.”
The sophomore guards weren’t the only ones making plays down the stretch. Stephen Basen of Lynn was 4-for-4 from the line in the final two minutes and grabbed the big rebound that led to Motroni’s final trip to the line. He also had a team-high seven rebounds coming off the bench.
“We’ve been in a lot of tight games recently and I think it paid off tonight,” noted Bettencourt. “We never panicked.”
Nichols pressed early and often and Endicott struggled on its first few possessions before settling down and getting acclimated to the speed and athleticism of the Bison. In the second half, the visitors turned the pressure up on defense in the halfcourt and Endicott struggled to make shots.
“We really tried to just pressure the ball more,” said Nichols head coach Tom Glynn. his team 17-5 overall. “They had a couple guys that made a ton of shots in the first half so we tried to get the ball out of their guards’ hands. They are always a great team. It was a very tough match up for our guys tonight.”
It was the three-ball that helped Endicott really extend its lead in the latter portion of the first half, but it was the Gulls’ commitment to getting the ball in the paint that sparked their offense out of the gate. Endicott scored 18 of its first 21 points off of plays in which the hosts got the ball into the paint.
“We always talk about trying to go inside-out,” Bettencourt said of his team’s offensive approach. “It doesn’t always play out that way because we do have a lot of talented 3-point shooters, but (Nichols) guards the three really well so we needed to establish ourselves in the paint with our driving.”
Former Bishop Fenwick standout Dom Luoni returned to the North Shore last night as a member of the Bison. While he didn’t see any time for a veteran Nichols team that played only seven, Glynn is optimistic about the freshman’s future.
“He’s made a lot of progress,” said Glynn. “He is playing on a veteran team with kids that have been around the block a little bit. He plays behind a very good senior and junior. We are all very happy with his progress he has a good career ahead of him here at Nichols college.”
Endicott 85, Nichols 80
at MacDonald Gymnasium, Beverly
Endicott: Walker 9-6-25, Motroni 6-6-23, Henault 4-4-13, Basden 2-4-9, Makris 3-0-7, Sawyer 3-0-6, White 1-0-2, Sampson 0-0-0, Kneece 0-0-0, Lipscomb 0-0-0. Totals 28-20-85.
Nichols: Horton 8-0-18, Eggleston 7-2-18, Koumare 5-3-16, Langadas 4-1-11, Gallant 3-0-6, Johnson 3-0-6, Thompson 2-0-5. Totals 32-6-80.
Halftime: Endicott, 44-26.
3-pointers: EC, Motroni 5, Makris, Basden, Henault, Walker; N, Koumare 3, Eggleston 2, Horton 2, Langadas 2, Thompson.
Records: EC, 17-5; N, 17-5.
