BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team fell to Suffolk University, 80-79, in overtime on Tuesday night in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament First Round at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Jalen Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.), Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.), and Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) all scored in double-figures (19-17-13) in the setback.

Kinney also hauled in a game-high 14 rebounds to finish with his ninth double-double of the season.

In overtime, Endicott raced out to a 75-71 lead in the first two minutes via a Cam Homsey (Lawrence, Mass.) three-pointer and a Kinney free throw.

Suffolk responded with a pair of free throws and a bucket plus the foul by Jake Gomez (Boston, Mass.) to complete a 5-0 spurt and push the guests ahead, 76-75.

Both teams traded baskets, ending in a spectacular baseline reverse layup with spin off the glass from Echevarria to boost the Gulls to a 79-78 advantage.

Gomez came up clutch again, this time sinking a mid-range jumper with six seconds left to go.

The junior forward was left open on the right side of the basket after Endicott's defense collapsed on Keenan Robertson (Rochester, N.Y.), the game's leading scorer (25 points), giving Gomez a chance to bury the uncontested look.

Following a timeout by Endicott to draw up a last-minute play with 4.7 seconds, the Rams escaped MacDonald Gym with the victory as a deep three-pointer from straight on front rimmed.

SECOND HALF

Endicott erased three 7-point deficits through the five-plus minutes of action, eventually taking its first lead of the second half, 65-63, with 6:38 remaining. 

The Gulls executed a perfect sideline inbounds play where Barrett split a pair of Suffolk defenders with a bounce pass to Hill on a baseline cut to the basket.

Both teams traded three-pointers on the next two possessions, as Homsey splashed a right-wing three to counter the Rams' trey for a 68-66 advantage.

Following a timeout at 4:58, Suffolk put together a 5-0 run (three-ball at 2:39, layup at 2:01) to move ahead 71-68 late in the matchup.

Echevarria answered moments later (1:46) with an and-one conversion to ignite the near-capacity crowd and knot the score at 71-all.

Stops on both ends gave Suffolk a last-ditch effort with 0.6 on the game clock but the baseball heave sent past the timeline ended up in Barrett's hands, pushing the matchup to overtime.

FIRST HALF

The fast-paced first half featured 13 lead changes and five ties. 

Suffolk held the largest advantage of the stanza at seven, 40-33, with 2:54 remaining before the break. 

The Rams used a 12-0 run to jump ahead by the seven-point margin — which served as an immediate answer to their 33-28 deficit at the 6:25 mark. 

The five-point lead represented Endicott's largest margin on the scoreboard (+5) in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Hill guided the Gulls with 11 points (4-7 FG, 3-4 3PT), while McLaren contributed eight (3-4 FG, 1-1 3PT, 1-1 FT).

As a team, Endicott controlled the boards more effectively in the third meeting between the two squads this season, only trailing the visitors by one in the category, 18-17. 

Suffolk entered tonight's contest with a +9.5 rebounding margin on the glass (43.0-33.5 per game) following the regular season split.

The Rams shot 47.1% from the field (16-34) and 61.5% from beyond the arc (8-13) to take a hard-fought 43-39 lead into the locker room. 

Conversely, the Gulls posted a 43.8 FG% (14-32) and a 47.1 3PT% (8-17). Both teams were 3-for-3 from the line.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Tonight's game featured 23 lead changes and eight ties.
• Suffolk leads the all-time series, 6-5.
• The Rams earned their first overtime win of the season.
• Neither team led by more than seven points.
• Echevarria finishes his career second all-time in points with 1,914 total.
• Both losses against Suffolk this season were by one point, each at home (L, 70-69; 1/27/24).

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 6 Suffolk (14-11) visits No. 2 Western New England on Thursday, February 22 (time TBD).

No. 3 Endicott sees its 2023-24 season come to a close at 17-9 overall. 

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

(Photo Credit - Kayleigh Halasz '24)