BIDDEFORD, Maine – A career-high 27 points from sophomore guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) and a gutsy performance down the stretch by fellow sophomore Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) helped the Endicott men's basketball team garner their first CCC win, defeating the University of New England 71-59 on the road Saturday afternoon.
Endicott, now 3-2 (1-1 CCC) on the season, moves on to face unbeaten Eastern Nazarene (9-0, 2-0 CCC) on Tuesday, December 9th for a 7:00 pm tip-off. The Gulls are 15-8 all-time against the Lions but are 3-4 since the 2010-11 season, the first year for this year' senior class.
Walker poured in 14 of his game-high point total in the first half to keep the Gulls within three points by halftime of a hot-shooting Nor'easters team that connected on 7-of-14 three-point attempts. Walker hit 5-of-8 shots from the floor including 3-of-4 three-point attempts in the opening period before finishing the game with another 13 points in the second half.
Trailing by seven (41-34) early in the second half Walker orchestrated a nine-point swing of his own, making 4-of-4 free throws, draining a shot from beyond the arc, and forcing a backcourt turnover and fast-break layup to put the Gulls on top 43-41.
Endicott and UNE battled back-and-forth in the second period and with just under five minutes remaining in the game, the Nor'easters held a 56-55 lead after their leading scorer Devin Thompson (Winthrop, Mass.) hit a go-ahead free throw. Thompson, with 18 points in the game, led all Nor'easters in scoring and fueled UNE's pace-setting first half with 14 of his team-high 18 points.
At the 4:53 mark of the second half, Walker scored down low to put Endicott ahead 57-56. Two possessions later, Motroni turned up his offensive attack and scored seven of the game's next eight to further extend the lead to 64-57 courtesy of a three-pointer, a layup, and a jumper after an offensive rebound. Down the stretch, a fast-break layup by sophomore guard Stephen Basden (Lynn, Mass.), assisted by senior guard John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) and important free throws by Motroni and Henault secured the Endicott win by 12 points.
The Gulls also benefited from 13 points by senior forward Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.), 11 of which came in the first half, seven points off the bench from Basden, and a team-high six rebounds and three blocks by sophomore forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.).
Thompson led UNE in scoring but also saw freshman forward Evrim Ozkan (Istanbul, Turkey) and sophomore guard C.J. Autry (Standish, Maine) reach double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Nor'easters dropped to 1-6 (0-2 CCC) with the loss.
