Feb. 26, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - Endicott College, seeded second in the North Division, relied on its best three players - Matt George (Dover, NH/Dover), Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro/Second Baptist School, TX), and Zach Ellis (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) - to win its third straight Commonwealth Coast Conference Title with a 65-56 win over Colby-Sawyer College Sunday afternoon at MacDonald Gymnasium.
The trio combined to score 50 of the Gulls' 65 points, dished out 12 assists, pulled down 21 rebounds, had three steals and blocked two shots. Endicott will advance to the NCAA National Tournament for the third straight season and fourth time in the history of the school. The selection will take place tonight (Sunday) and be released at around 10:00 PM while the pairings will be announced Monday morning. For the latest news on the NCAA Division III Tournament, log on to ncaasports.com or d3hoops.com.
George (8-of-14 FG; 3-of-5 3-PT; 3-of-5 FT) was the ringleader of the three and the star of Endicott's third straight postseason title run, tying the Endicott record for consecutive CCC championships (women's soccer and softball have also won three straight CCC titles).
The senior, who averaged 23.7 points in the postseason, finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with five assists - also a game-best - two blocks and two steals. The CCC Player of the Week played the majority of the second half with three fouls.
Ellis (4-of-7 3-PT) picked up 12 points and three assists and fueled Endicott (19-9) in the second half, canning three consecutive three-pointers to help the hosts maintain their a double digit lead. Marinkovic dropped in 16 points, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and dished out four assists.
Andrew St. Clair (Pittsfield, ME/Maine Central Institute) led the Chargers (17-10) with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Colin Bray (Brookline, MA/New Hampton) had a team-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Matt Spanos (Newport, NH/Newport) was the only other Charger in double figures, putting home 13 points.
Endicott shot 53 percent from the field and 50 percent from long distance while CSC was limited to 35 percent from the field and just 14 percent from three-points land (3-of-21). The Gulls took care of the ball in the first half (6 turnovers) and led 33-22 at the break but the hosts turned the ball over 12 times in the final 20 minutes to help CSC stay within striking distance.
However, George and company, had an answer for every Charger surge. George converted a conventional three-point play midway through the opening half, turning a 15-9 lead into an 18-9 advantage. And when the lead dwindled to eight inside of three minutes to play in the first half, George stuck a three to extend the cushion to 31-20. George also drew charging calls at two critical junctures of the contest.
The lead never dropped below seven in the final 10 minutes of the game and despite the Gulls' inability to convert free throws in the waning moments - Endicott made just 7-of-15 foul shots in the final 2:20 - the Gulls made every other play they had to in order to wrap up the championship. The clinching play came from Mike Sullivan (Marshfield, MA/Marshfield) on an offensive put-back after two missed free throws inside of 30 seconds left. The play kept the margin at eight points and the hosts were able to cut down the nets with the capacity crowd at MacDonald Gymnasium.
Sullivan, along with Endicott's other starter, Todd Burton (Lynn, MA/St. Mary's), netted seven and six points, respectively.
