BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott junior guard John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) returned to the court following a first half injury to score 19 of his game-high 26 points in the second period as the Gulls won a hard-fought CCC game with Salve Regina 87-76 at home to improve to 3-1 in league play. Henault hit six three-point baskets in the win, tying his career-high which was previous recorded back on February 25th, 2012 in an Endicott win in the CCC Championship.
Endicott (9-2, 3-1 CCC) is off to their best start in program history. Riding a five-game winning streak, the Gulls will travel to Bristol, Rhode Island where they will take on conference opponent Roger Williams (2-9, 1-3 CCC) on Thursday, January 9th for a 7:30 pm tip-off. The Hawks are coming off an 80-77 loss at Eastern Nazarene and have lost 7-of-8 match ups with Endicott dating back to the 2009-10 season, the first year for Gulls head coach Phil Rowe.
Salve Regina (8-3, 3-1 CCC) came into Tuesday's game undefeated thus far in 2014 with wins over #19 Middlebury and CCC foe Nichols. The Seahawks got a standout effort from senior guard Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, Mass.), who overcame early foul trouble to score a team-high 23 points, 21 of which came in the second half.
The Seahawks controlled the early portion of this game, jumping out to a 7-0 lead on seven straight points by senior big man Jeff Bielefeld (Littleton, Mass.) and extending their lead to 13-2 just 3:27 into the game before Endicott began to claw their way back. The Gulls trailed by as many as 12 points in the early going until an 18-6 run, fueled by six team steals and early buckets by Henault, tied the game at 27 with 6:46 left in the first half.
In the remaining minutes of the first half, the score remained close with neither team gaining a significant advantage. Endicott leaned on freshman guard and reigning CCC Rookie of the Week Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) to spark the offense with 11 points while recording four rebounds and two steals in 14 first half minutes. Walker would finish with 16 points off the bench with four assists. Salve Regina got 12 first half points from the conference's Player of the Week winner, sophomore guard Barrett Hanlon (Hopkinton, Mass.), who stuffed the stat sheet with six boards, three assists, and a steal without leaving the court. Hanlon went on to nearly record a double-double with nine rebounds while finishing with five assists and three steals before fouling out late in the game.
With the score knotted at 33 heading into the second half, Endicott came out of the locker room with an 11-2 stretch which put them up 44-35 just 3:04 in the period. The Gulls spread around the offense with Henault, senior Greg Jacques (Brockton, Mass.), and freshman Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) all contributing. Jacques ran the offense well with four assists while Sampson turned another solid game with 12 points, five rebounds, two steals, and a block in the win.
The Gulls would push their lead to as large as 12 points twice in the second half, at 61-49 at 8:46 and at 71-59 at the 5:52 mark. Henault was the catalyst, hitting 7-of-9 shots including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Sampson scored eight and junior Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.) added seven more.
Salve Regina battled late in the second half to pull within five points after a pair of free throws by Hanlon with 2:57 remaining. Dinneen continued to shine by totaling 21 points in the half and doing a lot of damage from the free throw line, sinking 9-of-11 attempts, but the Seahawks fell short of remaining unbeaten in CCC play.
