BEVERLY, Mass. – In their home opener and CCC schedule opener against North Shore rival Gordon, the Endicott men's basketball erased a 12-point halftime deficit to force overtime but ultimately came up short with a 75-71 OT defeat to the Fighting Scots. Endicott dropped their early season record to 2-2 (0-1 CCC) while Gordon earned their second win of the year, improving to 2-3 (1-0 CCC).
Both teams are off until Saturday, December 6th when CCC play continues with the Gulls traveling to the University of New England (1-5, 0-1 CCC) for a 3:00 pm tip-off. Gordon visits Wentworth (2-4, 1-0 CCC) with a 3:00 pm start.
Gulls sophomore forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) netted a career-high 21 points in first-year head coach Kevin Bettencourt's coaching debut in MacDonald Gymnasium, but a pair of double-doubles by Gordon senior forwards Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) and Jason Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) spoiled Endicott's bid to take down the defending conference champion Scots. Both Miersma and Dempsey were major factors in Gordon's dramatic rebounding edge (61-35) with Miersma hauling in 24 boards, seven offensive, and Dempsey grabbing 11 of his 14 caroms on the offensive glass. With a 23-8 favor in offensive rebounding, the Scots were able to produce 21 points off second-chance opportunities.
Miersma scored 23 points to lead all players, hitting 9-of-13 attempts from the floor with five free throw makes, and Dempsey poured in another 20 points by going 8-of-16 from the field and 4-of-5 at the charity stripe. Miersma also added three blocks down low.
Facing a 12-point deficit to start the second-half, as the Gulls opened the game with a promising 10-0 run before allowing Gordon to outscore them 27-10 to take control of momentum and eventually lead 40-28 at the break, Endicott slowly crept back into contention behind some defensive pressure and accurate three-point shooting. Sophomore guard Stephen Basden (Lynn, Mass.), senior guard John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.), and Sampson all had a game-high three steals while Motroni and senior forward Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.) both dropped a pair of three-point baskets apiece to help fuel the comeback.
Deep three's by Sampson and fellow sophomore Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) trimmed Gordon's lead down to just three points at 51-48 with 9:09 remaining and later in the second half, Makris drained a three-ball to tie the game at 60-60 before Motroni gave Endicott a 63-61 lead with just 1:17 left on the clock. Miersma would make a layup on the following Gordon possession, but in the final moments neither team could come up with the go-ahead points to end the game in regulation.
In the overtime period, the Scots scored the first two buckets on a layup by senior guard Taylor Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) and free throws by Dempsey. Sampson made a jump shot to pull within two at 67-65, two more free throws by Dempsey pushed the Gordon lead back up to four, but a Motroni three-pointer made it just a one-point game with 1:30 remaining.
With under a minute to go, Endicott had an opportunity to take the lead after hauling in the rebound off a missed Gordon layup but a jumper and a three-point attempt, following an offensive board, failed to go down giving Gordon the chance to extend their lead. Scots freshman guard Jaren Yang (San Francisco, Calif.), who finished with 11 points and four assists, drew a foul and hit a pair of clutch free throws with 31 ticks remaining to put Gordon ahead 71-68. Endicott missed another couple of three-point attempts in the final moments and Yang and Miersma combined to hit 3-of-5 free throws down the stretch to solidify the win. Henault sunk a three with just four seconds remaining to make it 74-71 but the game was out of reach as Gordon hit one final three to take the 75-71, overtime win.
Motroni finished with 16 points due in large part to a 4-of-9 effort from beyond the arc. He also added three boards, three assists, and two steals. Makris and Walker each had 10 points, Henault added eight, and the Endicott starting five accounted for 65 of the team's 71 points. Sophomore guard Drew Sawyer (Norwalk, Conn.) played 19 minutes off the bench and contributed with five points, three assists, and a steal.
Endicott made 12 three-pointers in the game, tied for 10th on the program's all-time team single game records. The record is 17 made three-point shots back on January 25th, 2003 in a road game at Anna Maria.
