Jan. 21, 2009
PAXTON, Mass. - Junior De La Hoz (Lawrence, Mass.) led all scorers with 17 points as Anna Maria College downed Endicott, 73-71, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference men's basketball contest at The Fuller Activities Center on Wednesday night. The win marks the first conference victory of the season for the AMCATS and ups their overall record to 4-12. The loss is the second-straight conference setback for the Gulls, and drops the Blue and Green to 6-9 overall and 2-2 in TCCC play.
The AMCATS came out strong from the start, grabbing an 8-0 advantage on a two free throws by Derek Johnson (Worcester, Mass.) sandwiched in between three-pointers by De La Hoz and Chris Pinsonault (Marlboro, Mass.). The Gulls responded with an alley-oop dunk by freshman Aaron Karkow (Uncasville, Conn.) from junior Bobby Montrond (Brockton, Mass.).
Endicott eventually grabbed their first lead of the game, 13-12, midway through the first half on a layup by junior Kevin McGuire (New City, N.Y.). The AMCATS were able to withstand the rush and ended the half on a 5-0 run to go into the locker room with a 28-25 advantage.
AMC carried its momentum into the second half, opening the period on an 8-0 run. Pinsonault ignited the run hitting a three-pointer before dropping in a layup while getting fouled. After the sophomore guard completed the three-point play by draining the free throw, the AMCATS held a 36-25 lead.
Anna Maria continued to control the game, leading by 16 with just six minutes remaining. However, the Gulls wouldn't go away quietly as the Blue and Green fought back with a 7-0 run to close the gap to 50-41.
Endicott's head coach Chris Millette made the decision to start fouling AMC intentionally for the final three minutes of action, forcing the AMCATS to make their free throws. The AMCATS responded by hitting 13 of their first 15 attempts from the charity stripe, and held a 65-54 lead with a minute remaining in regulation.
Again, the Gulls battled back, capitalizing off of an eventual cold spell from the line by AMC. Endicott received three-pointers from Graham Whitelaw (Kennebunk, Maine), Ben Ford (Hanson, Mass.) and Tanner McEntee (Del Mar, Calif.) and cut the lead to just two points at 71-69 with nine ticks left on the clock.
The Gulls sent De La Hoz to the line, where the sophomore knocked-down two free throws to give the AMCATS a 73-69 advantage. Whitelaw drove down the other end and hit a layup while getting fouled with one second remaining. Whitelaw appeared to miss the free throw intentionally, hoping for a put-back, but AMC senior Henry Rose (Coventry, R.I.) grabbed the rebound as the clock ran out to give the AMCATS a 73-71 win.
Whitelaw led the Gulls with a team-high 14 points, while Aaron Karkow added 11 points and seven boards. Bobby Montrond also played well for Endicott, grabbing eight rebounds and four steals in the tough loss.
The AMCATS were paced by De La Hoz's game-high 17 points while Chris Pinsonault added 16 points including 6-7 from the line. Derek Johnson also chipped in with a strong all-around performance, scoring 14 points while grabbing eight rebounds.
The Gulls look to rebound on Saturday as the Blue and Green travel to take on Wentworth at 3:00 p.m. The AMCATS will look to keep things going when they host the University of New England on Saturday at the Fuller Activities Center at 3:00 pm.
