Jan. 19, 2006
BOSTON, MA - Senior guard Zach Ellis (Westford, MA/Westford) scored 14 points, hitting 4-of-5 from behind the three-point arc, and dished out four assists as Endicott took sole possession of first place in the Commonwealth Coast Conference North Division with a 62-47 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology Thursday night.
Gulls' senior guard Matt George (Dover, NH/Dover) chipped in 13 points, five rebounds, seven assists, and five steals to help EC improve to 8-5 overall and 5-0 in the CCC. The Leopards suffered their first home loss of season, falling to 8-6 overall and 4-2 in the CCC.
The Gulls came out flying, scoring the first 14 points of the game, backed by a pair of trifectas and a layup from Ellis. The Leopards would score their first points of the game with 14:58 left on a layup from junior forward Bryan Gaine (Braintree, Mass.). Endicott pushed its lead to 19 on a pair of occasions, including with 9:12 left before Wentworth used a 9-2 run to trim the gap to 12 (27-15) with 6:06 left. The Gulls would get the lead back to 19 before settling for a 36-21 halftime advantage. During the first 20:00, Endicott shot an astounding 78.9 percent (15-for-19) from the floor, while holding the Leopards to just 7-for-31 (22.6 percent) shooting.
Wentworth opened the second stanza on a 6-0 run to close the gap to single digits (36-27) for the first time since early in the first half, but Endicott responded with a 17-6 spurt over the next 10:00 to increase its lead to 20 (55-35). The Leopards made one last run at it, trimming the lead to 13 (55-42) with 4:03 to play, but the Gulls would respond with a 7-2 run to bring the lead back to 18. Despite turning the ball over 27 times, the Gulls shot 64.1 percent from the floor, while holding the hosts to 32.1 percent.
In addition to Ellis and George, junior forward Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro/Second Baptist School, TX) had 10 points and six rebounds as Endicott improved to 8-5 overall and 5-0 in Commonwealth Coast Conference play. Gaine led the Leopards with 14 points and six rebounds, while sophomore guard Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (Norwalk, Conn.) and freshman guard Todd Doyle (Norwalk, Conn.) had 11 apiece. Doyle also dished out five assists for Wentworth.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday. Endicott hosts Anna Maria, while Wentworth travels to New England College.
The Wentworth Sports Information Office contributed to this report.
