Feb. 4, 2006
DUDLEY, MA - Endicott College scored the final 10 points of the game, capped by Todd Burton's (Lynn, MA/St. Mary's) game-winning bucket on a Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro/Second Baptist School, TX) feed with four seconds left in regulation to give the Gulls a 58-56 victory over Nichols College in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon.
Endicott held the hosts scoreless for the final 5:37 of the contest to raise its record to 13-7 overall and 10-1 in the CCC while the Bison fell to 7-12 overall and 4-7 in conference play.
Marinkovic had a chance to net his 1,000th point in dramatic fashion at the conclusion of the game but passed on the opportunity and dished the ball to Burton for the game-winner. The junior now has 999 career points after dropping in a team-high 13 points Saturday. He will most likely join teammate Matt George (Dover, NH/Dover) in the 1,000-point club Tuesday night at Eastern Nazarene College. Tip off is at 8:00 PM in Quincy.
The 10-point EC rally that saw blocks by Marinkovic, George and freshman Joey Burgos (Lawrence, MA/Lawrence), who also collected two boards in the run, began with a Gary Corbett (Danbury, CT/Danbury) three-pointer at the five-minute mark. The Nichols' lead evaporated to two points after Zach Ellis (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) canned a three with 3:13 to play and Burgos knotted the score with 1:41 remaining on a put back, setting the table for the grand finale.
Marinkovic had eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal to go along with his 13 points, while Ellis, who dished out five assists, and George each added 10 points in the win. George also pulled down six rebounds, handed out six assists and grabbed two steals.
Burton finished with eight points and two assists and Mike Sullivan (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) put home six points for Endicott while Chris Valee led all scorers with 22 points for the Bison, who got 13 points from Justin Lewis, the only other Nichols' player in double figures.
