Feb. 1, 2007
BEVERLY, MA - Joey Burgos (Lawrence, MA/Lawrence) cut his way through three New England College defenders and put an exclamation point dunk on Endicott's 83-64 Commonwealth Coast Conference victory at the MacDonald Gymnasium on Thursday night in Beverly, MA
The opening minutes of Thursday's contest were a back-and-forth affair, as the lead changed hands on five separate occasions in the games first 10 minutes. Aided by the shooting of Gary Corbett (Danbury, CT/Danbury) and Todd Burton (Lynn, MA/St. Mary's/Canterbury School) the Gulls were able to keep up with the NEC fast-paced run-and-gun offense. The push-and-pull style lasted late into the opening half, until Endicott big men Mike Sullivan (Marshfield, MA/Marshfield) and Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Second Baptist, Houston, TX) combined for eight points in the closing two-minutes to put the Gulls up 38-31 at the intermission.
NEC's Ryan Jaziri (Norwich, CT/Norwich Free Academy), averaging 23.1 points per game coming into Thursday's game, tore the Endicott defense apart in the first half as he scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Endicott coach Chris Millette adjusted the EC defensive plan during the break, and the Gulls returned to their friendly confines with a new scheme on their defensive end.
The Gulls shot out of the gate in the second half, quickly turning their seven point halftime lead into an insurmountable 21 point advantage. Gary Corbett and Ross Stewart (Palm Harbor, FL/East Lake High School) capped off a huge Endicott run, as they traded assists and three-pointers on back-to-back possessions for the Blue and Green. The Gulls were simply too strong down the stretch, as Endicott pushed their way past NEC, 83-64
Endicott's Nemanja Marinkovic was a force in the second frame, as the senior forward dropped 14 of his team-high 24 points in the second half. When all was said and done, Marinkovic racked up a monster double-double of 24 points, 15 rebounds and two assists. Joey Burgos came just two rebounds shy of a double-double of his own, as the sophomore forward scored 14 points and grabbed eight boards in the win.
NEC's Ryan Jaziri finished with 24 points and seven rebounds. The Gulls were able to hold the slick-shooting Jaziri to just eight points in the final twenty minutes. The Pilgrims' Tyler Evans (Harford, CT/Manchester) knocked down 16 points and dished out three assists in the loss.
Endicott (8-9 overall and 6-3 in the CCC) looks to pull their overall record back to .500 as they travel to Roger Williams University on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 PM.
