Feb. 16, 2008
BEVERLY, Mass. - Endicott College saw its 20 point second half lead be cut down to as little as three, however the Gulls managed to hang on, 72-65, for a hard fought The Commonwealth Coast Conference victory over visiting Salve Regina University on Saturday afternoon in Beverly, Massachusetts.
With eight minutes remaining in the second half, junior guard Todd Burton (Lynn, Mass.) converted a lay-up to put the Gulls up 57-37, giving them what seemed to be a comfortable lead. However a pair of 3-pointers from Quinn O'Brien (West Hartford, Conn.) and Justin Woodworth (Ipswich, Mass.) quickly sliced into the Endicott advantage.
The Gulls managed to inch away with an eight point lead with 1:37 showing on the clock, but a turnover and 4-of-8 shooting from the free throw line allowed the Seahawks to come within three points of the lead with only 22 seconds remaining. Despite the poor shooting from the charity stripe (11-of-21, 52.4%), Endicott was able to sneak out a seven point victory.
With the win, Endicott improves to 10-13 overall and 6-5 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference. The victory keeps Endicott in line for a TCCC playoff berth as they close out the regular season this coming week. Salve Regina slips to 6-17 overall and 4-7 in conference play. The Seahawks are currently on the outside looking in, as they limp down the stretch with a five game losing streak.
Endicott paced the play almost from the outset as Burton and Gary Corbett (Danbury, Conn.) scored a combined 17 points in the first half to give the Blue and Green a 30-21 lead going into halftime. Salve shot just 28.6 % from the field in the first half and hit only eight field goals. Freshman center Justin Martin (Cromwell, Conn.) upped his blocks per game average with three swats in the contest as the hosts had seven total rejections in the first half. Prior to Saturday's contest, Martin ranked 27th in the country in blocks per game.
In the second, the Gulls slowly crept away from Salve as easy baskets from Chris Galbraith (Lowell, Mass.) and Joey Burgos (Lawrence, Mass.) continued to fall and with eight and a half minutes to play, Endicott stood with its biggest lead of the day up 20.
Burton led Endicott with 17 points and added three assists and two blocks. Corbett finished the game with 14 points and four boards. Tom Connor (Kittery, Maine) led the Gulls in rebounds with six, and added nine points.
Salve Regina's Steve Walsh (Manchester, NH) recorded a double-double, scoring a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds. Justin Woodworth also finished the game in double-figures with 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting.
Endicott continues its playoff push on Wednesday evening as they host the Pilgrims of New England College for an 8:00 p.m. tip. Salve Regina looks to change its luck on the same night, as they square-off with Eastern Nazarene.
