Jan. 31, 2008
BEVERLY, Mass. - Endicott College's Todd Burton (Lynn, Mass./St. Mary's/Canterbury) and Tom Connor (Kittery, Maine/Traip Academy) each notched a game-high 18 points as the Gulls won their fourth-straight, upending the conference's top team Roger Williams University, 67-64, on Thursday night in Beverly, Massachusetts.
The visitors showed early why they entered Thursday's showdown with an unblemished conference record, quickly leaping out to an 11-4 lead on a 3-ball from Dan Gumb (Patterson, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) and a nice lay-in from Billy Barrett (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield). Roger Williams would extend its seven point lead to nine at the 2:38 mark of the opening half, as Barrett nailed a pull-up jumper to push the visitors to a 32-23 advantage.
Endicott reached down deep as the opening half came to a close, rattling off a 10-0 run that was sparked by a Todd Burton 3-pointer to slice the lead to six. On the following possession Burton drove the lane and converted on an up-and-under, and then Chris Galbraith (Lowell, Mass./Marionapolis Prep) answered the call with a fade-away jumper to make it a two point game. The Endicott charge was completed by an NBA range 3-pointer from Gary Corbett (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) as time expired, sending the Gulls into the intermission with all the momentum and a 33-32 lead.
In the second, Graham Whitelaw (Kennebunk, Maine/Cheverus) dialed in from behind the arc to put EC up by seven. Roger Williams fired back with a run of its own, scraping off an 11-0 jolt that included two 3-pointers from Travis O'Dell (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick) and Billy Barrett to regain the lead at 47-45.
The back-and-forth affair continued until the two minute mark of regulation, and that's when Tom Connor took over. The 6'4" graduate student muscled his way inside on consecutive possessions for two back-breaking buckets for the Gulls. Roger Williams would have an opportunity late as the Hawks created a turnover with five seconds remaining; however Billy Barrett's 3-pointer missed its mark.
Roger Williams (9-9 overall, 5-1 TCCC) was paced by Barrett's 16 points in 33 minutes of action. Geoff Baranger (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield), a 6'10" senior center, finished the night with 12 points, six rebounds and a block in the losing effort.
Endicott (8-10 overall, 4-2 TCCC) was led by Burton and Connor's 18 points apiece. Gary Corbett also had seven points and four assists for the Gulls. Joey Burgos (Lawrence, Mass./Lawrence) had a monster game on the glass, hauling down a game-high 12 rebounds in the victory.
Endicott returns to action on Saturday afternoon as they host cross-town rival Gordon College at 3:00 pm. The Fighting Scots defeated Endicott, 66-57, in a non-conference match-up on December 4, 2007 in Wenham, Mass.
