Jan. 23, 2008
BEVERLY, Mass. - The Endicott College defense held Anna Maria to just 16-of-53 (30.2%) shooting from the floor, as the Gulls soared past the Amcats, 69-42, on Wednesday evening in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference men's basketball contest in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Endicott opened the first half by marching out to a 14-2 lead, capped off by a two-handed flush from junior forward Joey Burgos (Lawrence, Mass./Lawrence) just over six minutes into regulation. The Amcats responded to the early pressure and following a pull-up jumper from Henry Rose (Coventry, R.I./Bishop Hendricken), the visitors were able to cut the lead to four, 18-14.
From that point, the Blue and Green mounted a game-ending 18-3 run that spanned the final eight minutes of the opening half, as the Gulls entered the dressing room with an impressive 36-17 lead after one half of play.
In the second stanza Endicott continued rolling, opening the half by scoring five-straight points off a successful 12-footer from Graham Whitelaw (Kennebunk, Maine/Cheverus) and a 3-ball by Todd Burton (Lynn, Mass./St. Mary's/Canterbury). The Gulls would lead by as many as 29 points before the final buzzer, scoring a much-needed TCCC win.
Anna Maria was led by Derek Johnson's (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) 14 points and five rebounds. Tyler Washington (Milford, Mass./Milford) shot 4-of-5 from the floor for 11 points. Adam Garabedian (Pepperell, Mass./North Middlesex) notched five points and two rebounds in the losing effort.
Endicott was led by a trio of double-figure scorers. Graham Whitelaw scored a game-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Tom Connor (Kittery, Maine/Traip Academy) had 11 points and three boards while Ross Stewart (Palm Harbor, Fla./East Lake) also had 11 points in 13 minutes of action.
With the win, Endicott improves to 5-10 overall and 2-2 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Gulls return to action as they continue their home stand with TCCC foe Wentworth on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 pm in Beverly, Mass.
