SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Endicott men's basketball team recorded their 10th win of the 2014-15 season by defeating CCC rival Western New England 75-66 on the road Saturday afternoon. Endicott got a career-high seven assists from sophomore guard Max Motorni (West Warwick, R.I.) and a game-high 17 points from sophomore guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) as the team improved to 6-2 in conference play.
Endicott (10-5, 6-2 CCC) won their fifth straight game over Western New England going back two seasons and will look to win back-to-back contest when they host conference foe Wentworth (6-9, 4-4 CCC) on Tuesday, January 20th at 7:30 pm. Wentworth is coming off a 61-47 loss to Nichols on Saturday and have lost their last four games.
Western New England (4-11, 2-6 CCC) held a 14-9 advantage 7:19 into the first half as the Golden Bears looked to get head coach Mike Theulen his 100th career victory, but Endicott quickly tied the game with a five-point swing capped by a three-pointer by senior captain John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.). The Blue and Green went on to build a six-point lead (25-19, 4:57 1st) before Western New England battled back to tie the game at 27. Another three-pointer by Henault and layups by sophomore forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) and senior forward Tell White (New Castle, N.H.) held Endicott own a 34-30 lead at the break.
Gulls sophomore guard Chris Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) celebrated his homecoming by scoring six of his career-high nine points in the opening period. Lipscomb would come off the bench and play 21 minutes, hitting 3-of-4 shots including a three-pointer and collect four rebounds with two assists.
In the second half, Walker and fellow sophomore Drew Sawyer (Norwalk, Conn.) helped Endicott maintain their advantage throughout the period. Walker scored 12 of his game-high 17 points with Sawyer adding nine points in the second half and finishing with 13 overall. Late in regulation, Western New England pulled within two (64-62, 2:31 2nd) on a Musa Elsir (Springfield, Mass.) make from beyond the arc. After a Golden Bear timeout, Walker knocked down a clutch three and back-to-back layups by Motroni and Henault put the game out of reach with under a minute to go.
Walker's 17 points came on 7-of-12 shooting and 2-of-5 from three-point range. He added five first half assists, two rebounds, and a steal. Henault totaled 10 points, Sampson scored nine, Motroni eight, and White added a couple of baskets all in starting roles. The combination of Sawyer (13 points) and Lipscomb (nine points) factored into Endicott's bench outscoring Western New England's 27-0.
The Gulls shot 48% from the floor overall as a team but just 32% (7-of-22) from three-point distance. Endicott was near perfect at the free throw line, hitting 12-of-13 shots at the charity stripe.
Elsir and graduate student guard Nick DeFeo (Southington, Conn.) both had 17 points with Western New England sophomore guard Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) and junior guard Zack Askew (Middletown, Conn.) scoring 16 and 11 points, respectively. Askew led all players with 10 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass as well as distributing five assists.
