BIDDEFORD, Maine – The No. 20 Endicott men's basketball team pulled away from host University of New England, 78-65, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play Tuesday night inside Harold Alfond Forum.
Senior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.), senior guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.), and senior forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) combined to score 56 points as the Gulls won their fourth straight game and remained unbeaten in conference play.
In a game that featured 10 ties and 11 lead changes, the Gulls and Nor'easters found themselves in a 32-32 deadlock at halftime.
The Gulls ignited for a 46-point second stanza as Endicott trailed just once early in the second half.
A 7-0 run broke a 40-40 knotted score to go up 47-40 at 15:40 on Sampson's dunk to finally create some breathing room.
The Gulls eventually led by as much as 16 with 2:43 remaining in the game on Sampson's trey and held on the rest of the way.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott placed three student-athletes in double figures as Walker and Motroni each chipped in a game-high 20 points, while Sampson added 16 points.
- Motroni dished out a team-high five helpers.
- The Gulls attempted a season-high 32 free throws and converted a season-high 25 at the line.
CAREER MILESTONES WATCH LIST
- Walker became the program's all-time career leader in free throws made as he now has 346 to his name, surpassing current assistant coach Lance Greene's '13 336 career free throws to own the program record with his 10-of-11 showing from the charity stripe tonight.
- Sampson moved into second on the program's all-time career rebounds list as his game-high eight boards tonight gave him 681 total to surpass Eric Simonelli's '01 career mark of 667.
- Walker currently has attempted 1,052 career field goals, which moved him into 5th all-time surpassing Jon D'Orlando's '98 mark of 1,047.
- Walker currently has attempted 434 career free throws, which moved him into 4th all-time, surpassing Nemanja Marinkovic '07 mark of 426.
- Walker's three steals gave him 111 career steals to move into 12th all-time, surpassing Graham Whitelaw's '10 marker of 110.
FOR THE FOES
- The Nor'easters had three student-athletes score double digits as senior center Tom Nason (Milton, N.H.) led the way with 14, while senior guard Jean-Luc Parker (Georgetown, Texas) and sophomore guard Daron Hoges Jr. (West Orange, N.J.) followed suit with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
- Hoges Jr. and junior guard Drew Coveney (Londonderry, N.H.) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and Coveney dished out a game-high eight assists.
- UNE scored 27 points off the bench compared to Endicott's 11.
- The Nor'easters led by as much as three at the 19:39 marker of the first half.
NOTES
- Endicott is now 21-10 all-time against the Nor'easters, as the most recent meeting before today was an 68-61 win at home on 02/10/2016 to complete the regular season series sweep.
- The Gulls have won seven in a row in head-to-head matchups with UNE and are 11-6 all-time in road games in Biddeford, Maine dating back to the 1995 season.
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 20 Endicott (6-1, 3-0 CCC) hosts Salem St. on Thursday, December 8 at 5:30 p.m. in non-conference action.
University of New England (2-6, 1-2 CCC) travels to Westfield, Mass. to take on Westfield St. on Sunday, December 11 at 2:00 p.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.