Feb. 13, 2007
BEVERLY, MA - Junior guard Todd Burton (Lynn, MA/St. Mary's/Canterbury School) converted an improbable four-point play with less than a second left in regulation, as the Endicott College Gulls stunned the Gordon College Fighting Scots, 62-61 on Tuesday night in Beverly, MA.
Gordon shot out of the gates quickly on Tuesday night, as the visitors grabbed the opening tip and quickly converted on the other end, taking an early 2-0 advantage. The Fighting Scots opened the game on a fast-paced 13-4 run, capped off by a Jerry Logan (Marietta, GA/The Walker School) lay-in with 14:35 left in the first half. The Gulls began working their way back into the game as Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Second Babtist, Houston, TX) scored on back-to-back possessions, pulling Endicott within four at 13-9. Gordon quickly responded with a Jerry Logan 3-ball, followed by a Jon Marstaller (Naples, ME/Lake Region) lay-up, rebuilding the visitors lead to nine.
Endicott's Joey Burgos (Lawrence, MA/Lawrence) got into a groove with just over five-minutes left in the first half, as the sophomore forward scored twice in as many trips down the court for the Blue and Green, cutting the Gordon lead to two, 20-18. GC's Aaron Trigg (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) shot right back for Gordon, as the freshman guard knocked down a big three-pointer to beat the shot clock, retaking the five point lead. The back-and-forth play would continue into the intermission, as Gordon held a slight 28-24 halftime advantage.
The Gulls returned to the MacDonald Gymnasium hardwood and slowly began to chip away at the Gordon lead. Marinkovic and Burgos dominated in the low post in the early second half, as the two Endicott big men rallied to cut the Gordon lead to two. Todd Burton helped the Endicott cause as he knifed his way through the Gordon defense, earning his spot at the free-throw line where he knocked down consecutive attempts, evening the game for the first time at 35-all.
Over the next five-minutes of play, the Fighting Scots would shoot their way to an 11 point lead, led by Justin Kaufman's (Redding, CT/Christian Heritage) two deep connections from behind-the-arc. Just when it looked like the visitors had the game sealed, Endicott once again battled their way back in.
Gary Corbett (Danbury, CT/Danbury) started the EC comeback charge as he drained a deep three, followed by a Burgos lay-up to cut the lead to 57-51 with just over four minutes left to play in regulation. Nemanja Marinkovic showed his senior leadership on Tuesday, as the 6-4 forward scored three points the old-fashioned way as he picked up a lay-up and a foul, bringing Endicott within two.
Gordon came right back at Endicott as Brady Bajema (Whitinsville, MA/Whitinsville Christian) got the Gordon faithful back into the game as he grabbed a tough two points on the inside at the 1:30 mark to put the Fighting Scots back up five. Following a Joey Burgos free-throw, Endicott's Graham Whitelaw (Kennebunk, ME/Cheverus) hit a deep two with 32.4 seconds to play to make it a one point game. Following an Endicott timeout, Justin Kaufman found a wide open Brady Bajema who dropped in an easy uncontested lay-up to put Gordon up 61-58.
With the Gulls trailing by three with just under ten-seconds to play, junior guard Todd Burton took a feed in the far corner, crossed up a Gordon defender, and nailed a step-back three pointer while picking up the foul as he hit the floor, tying the game at 61-all with .5 seconds remaining in regulation. Following a Gordon timeout, Burton stepped up to the line and buried the free-throw for Endicott's first lead of the game, completing the four point play and the win for the Gulls. As the sellout crowd at the Post Center stormed the court for the improbable Endicott victory, coach Chris Millette and his Gulls escaped into the locker room with a share of first place in the CCC-North Division.
Endicott was led by Nemanja Marinkovic's game-high 24 points and seven rebounds. Joey Burgos added 13 points and 6 boards, while Tuesday's hero Todd Burton finished the night with 11 points and six assists. Gordon had four-players reach double figures, as the Fighting Scots were paced by Justin Kaufman's team-high 12 points on four-of-eight shooting. Michael Schnackenberg (South Portland, ME/Cheverus) finished the night with 11 points while teammates Jon Marstaller and Jerry Logan each had 10 in the loss.
Endicott improves their record to 13-9 overall and 11-3 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Tuesday's victory propels the Gulls into a two-way tie for the top spot in the CCC-North. Endicott travels to New England College on Thursday evening with only two games remaining in the regular season. The Gulls and Pilgrims tip-off at 7:30 PM in Henniker, NH.
