GALLOWAY, N.J. – The 2014-15 Endicott men's basketball season came to a close on Friday evening as the Gulls suffered an 81-61 loss to #17 Stockton in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. A 40% three-point shooting team on the year, Endicott (23-5) struggled from behind the arc and found themselves behind 17 at halftime, a deficit the Gulls would not recovery from.
Endicott rolled into the NCAA Tournament on a 14-game winning streak fresh off their sixth Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship and tied their program record with their 23rd win in the conference title game. Pitted against New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) automatic qualifiers Stockton, however, the Gulls failed to slow down Ospreys leading scorer senior forward Josh Blamon (Cinnaminson, N.J.) as well as junior guard Armin Cane (Pleasantville, N.J.) who both netted over 20 points in the game.
The combined 46 points from Blamon and Cane send Stockton into the Second Round where they will face Bates on Saturday, March 7th at 7:00 p.m.
Endicott sophomore guard and CCC Co-Player of the Year Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) and senior All-CCC Second Team guard John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) both scored a team-high 16 points and senior forward Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.) added 11 points off the bench but a troublesome first half team shooting performance put the Gulls in the hole early on. Endicott registered only a 15% field-goal percentage including 2-of-15 (13%) from three-point range in the first period en route to a 41-24 advantage for Stockton at the break.
An 11-3 run to start the second half stretched the Osprey lead to over 20 points (52-27, 17:44 2nd). Stockton would build a lead as large as 30 points at the 5:43 mark and the home team leading 75-45 before Endicott rattled off one of their patented 15-0 runs to make it a 75-60 game with just under three minutes remaining.
By that point in the game, however, Gulls first-year head coach Kevin Bettencourt had relieved his regulars of their duties including seniors Matt Kneece (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Henault, Makris, and Tell White (New Castle, N.H.) who played in their final game in the Blue and Green. Stockton's bench outscored Endicott 6-1 down the stretch and advanced on to the next round of the NCAA postseason tournament.
Gulls sophomore guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) scored six of his nine points at the free throw with two rebounds and an assist. Walker led the team with six rebounds and two steals while matching Makris and White with two assists. White would also add five rebounds including three on the offensive glass.
Endicott finished the game shooting 28% from the field, 23% (7-of-30) from three, and 75% (24-of-32) at the free throw line. The Gulls were outrebounded 41-32 thanks to a game-high eight boards from Stockton's Cane and Anthony Woodard (Atlantic City, N.J.). Endicott would score 21 points off 15 Stockton turnovers while committing 13 themselves leading to 16 Osprey points. Stockton controlled the paint by outscoring Endicott 26-10 and saw their bench hold a slim 19-17 scoring advantage.
Stockton shot an efficient 54% from the floor including 11-of-22 (50%) from behind the three-point line. The Ospreys knocked down 8-of-13 attempts at the free throw line.
