BRISTOL, R.I. – The Endicott men's basketball team survived a late-game run by Roger Williams to win their seventh straight game, beating the Hawks 69-66 on the road Saturday afternoon. The Gulls, led by a game-high 19 points from senior captain John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.), improved to 16-5 overall and 12-2 in their CCC schedule.
Down by 18 points with 4:53 remaining in the game, Roger Williams battled back into contention to trail by only two points with nine seconds left. After Endicott sophomore forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) hit 1-of-2 free throws to put the visitors up three, the Hawks came down the court and turned the ball over to secure a Gulls win.
Henault scored 14 of his 19 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor, 2-of-3 from three-point range, and 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Henault, who is averaging 13.3 points per game during Endicott's seven-game win-streak, is now just 46 points away from moving into second place on the program's all-time scoring list. He is chasing former Endicott standout Nemanja Marinkovic '07 who has 1,440 career points.
Endicott's 18-point lead was its largest of the game as the Gulls led by 10 after halftime before extending their advantage even further deep into the second half. Joining Henault in double figures were sophomore guards Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) and Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) as well as Sampson. Walker scored exactly on his season average with 16 points, hitting 6-of-17 shots including 3-of-7 three-point attempts while adding four assists, three rebounds, a block, and a steal.
Motroni scored 15 points, mostly at the free throw line as he made 8-of-12 attempts, and collected four rebounds with three assists. Sampson added 11 points, grabbed five caroms, and dished out two assists. Senior forward Tell White (New Castle, N.H.) led the Gulls with seven rebounds as Endicott outrebounded Roger Williams 37-33.
For Roger Williams, freshman forward Jaylen Jennings (Norwalk, Conn.), freshman guard Nick Marini (Loudonville, N.Y.), and sophomore forward Josh Syska (Peabody, Mass.) all scored in double figures in the second half to fuel the Hawks furious comeback. Jennings and Syska each finished with a team-high 14 points, Marini added 12, while senior guard Ryan Palumbo (Warwick, R.I.) totaled 13 points, five rebounds, five assists, four steals, and a block in the loss.
Endicott shot 47% from the field as a team, 38% (9-of-24) from behind the three-point line, and 70% (16-of-23) at the free throw line. Roger Williams was limited to 39% from the floor and just 15% (2-of-13) from long range while hitting 64% (16-of-25) from the charity stripe.
Endicott will next face the top team in the CCC standings Nichols (17-4, 14-0 CCC) who defeated Western New England 90-49 at home on Saturday. In their previous meeting back on January 15th, the Bison fought off Endicott to win 78-74 on their home court. Endicott will host Nichols on Wednesday, February 11th for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
