Feb. 27, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - This will be a weekend Endicott senior co-captain Matt George (Dover, NH/Dover) may never forget.
The 6-foot guard won his third straight Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Sunday afternoon, learned his club would be playing Tufts University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Monday morning and was tabbed the CCC Player of the Week Monday afternoon for the second straight week.
George was the driving force in the CCC Tournament, averaging 23.7 points on over 50 percent shooting from the field as well as beyond the arc, while hitting over 80 percent of his foul shots.
George averaged 32.3 minutes per night and was the game's leading scorer in all three of the wins in the postseason helping Endicott earned the right to square off against Tufts University of the New England Small College Athletic Conference on Friday, March 3, 2006 at Cortland State.
George is leading the team in steals (1.73), assists (3.86) and assists to turnover ratio (1.10). All three of those stats are among the best in the CCC as well and he was the only Endicott men's basketball player to be named the Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Week this season.
Along with junior forward Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro/Second Baptist School, TX) and fellow co-captain Zach Ellis (Westford, MA/Westford Academy), George powered the Gulls in their fourth straight CCC title appearance.
George and Marinkovic were CCC All-Conference selections who each eclipsed the 1,000-point barrier this season while Ellis has 70 three-pointers this season. They are the team's top three scorers, both in the regular season and the postseason.
The trio was at its best in the CCC Championship, combing for 50 of the Gulls' 65 points in their CCC Championship win over Colby-Sawyer (65-56). They also teamed up to dish out 12 assists, pull down 21 rebounds, record three steals and block two shots. George collected a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point land, and 3-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Playing with three fouls for the majority of the second half, George dished out a game-best five assists, blocked two shots and came up with two steals to guide Endicott to its school-record tying third consecutive CCC championships (women's soccer and softball also have three straight CCC titles).
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.
Marinkovic, who played 33 minutes per game, was a steady force in the paint at both ends of the court during the three-game run. The 6-foot-4 junior averaged a double-double during the playoffs (13.3 PPG; 10.0 rebounds) and dished out eight assists in three games.
One of the keys to the game was Marinkovic's ability to defend Colby-Sawyer sharp-shooter Justin Thorpe. Millette warned his team before the contest if Thorpe scored 20 Endicott would not win the game. Thorpe did not manage a single point.
Averaging 31.3 minutes in the postseason, Ellis averaged 9.7 points on 7-of-17 three's (.412 percent). The guard handed out 11 assists (3.7 per game) and only turned the ball over four times.
Marinkovic and George became the eighth and ninth Endicott players to join the 1,000-point club this season. Gulls' head coach Chris Millette described George as one of the toughest players to defend in New England. His ability to beat you inside and score from outside makes him an all-star. George is one of the top ball handlers in the CCC as well.
