March 4, 2004
Hosting their first ever NCAA basketball playoff game, the Gulls lost a hard fought battle to the visiting Babson Beavers tonight, 66-56. In a gym filled with NCAA fever and 1140 passionate fans, Babson snapped a 14 game winning streak for the Gulls.
Babson came out firing right from the start, scoring the first bucket of the game with less than 5 seconds off the clock. Endicott tied the score up a few times early on, and took the lead 7-6 at 16:01 on a bucket by freshman Nemanja Marinkovic, but Babson's perimeter defense was relentless forcing 15 EC turnovers in the first half alone. That would be Endicott's only lead of the half as the Beavers extended their lead to 12 (35-23) with 4:07 to go. Endicott switched into a zone defense for the final minutes of the half and made a 7-2 run led by junior Josh Oxton (with a basket and assist) to close the half down 7, 37-30.
For EC, the first 12 minutes of the game were all Nemanja Marinkovic, as the CCC Rookie of the Year scored 17 of the Gulls first 20 points. Babson, however, had many scoring threats of their own, as 3 players had 8 or more points at the end of the first half.
The Gulls looked strong coming out of the locker room in the second half. Their zone defense and full court pressure sparked a 10-2 run. With 15:55 on the clock EC took the lead (40-39) on a basket by Marinkovic. But the lead was short lived as Babson's junior, Phil Riffe responded with a 3 pointer 20 seconds later to put the Beavers back on top and spark their own 11-1 run (50-40). The Gulls pulled within 5 points twice, first on 2 free throws by Oxton with 6:12 on the clock, and then again at the line by senior Jeremy Currier with 3:33 on the clock, but they would come no closer. Tough defense and solid free throw shooting (9-12, 75%) helped seal the win for the Beavers.
The Gulls shot 53% from the floor but only managed 38 shots in the game as the Beavers forced 25 turnovers and allowed only 5 EC offensive rebounds. Despite normally shooting 33% from behind the arc, the Gulls were cold tonight, hitting only 2 of 11 attempts.
Marinkovic was the high scorer for the game finishing with 24 points. Junior James Leveque contributed 9 points and a game-high 13 boards. Oxton tallied 9 points and sophomore Zach Ellis added 7 points and 5 assists.
Junior CJ Enere had a big night for the Beavers scoring 20 points, while also going 6-6 from the free throw line in the final 2 minutes. Senior Jeff Hines contributed 14 points and 5 rebounds. Senior Luke Weber and sophomore Brian Parsons added 9 and 8 points respectively.
The Gulls end their season with an impressive 23-5 record, the best in school history. The Beavers, 21-7, will travel to Keene State Saturday night for the 2nd round of the NCAA's.
