MILTON, Mass. – In a 77-57 win over Curry, the Endicott men's basketball saw six different players drain three-point attempts and the bench give significant offensive contributions with 30 points as the Gulls won their ninth straight game to improve to 18-5 (14-2 CCC) on the 2014-15 season.
Endicott has two games remaining in their regular season schedule, both against conference opponents, starting with a road test at Wentworth (11-11, 9-6 CCC) on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. The Gulls defeated the Leopards 63-54 at home back on January 17th as sophomore guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) poured in a game-high 17 points with five rebounds and two assists.
Curry (5-18, 3-13 CCC) remains on the outside looking in on the upcoming CCC Tournament following today's loss to the Gulls. The Colonels take on the team directly above them in the conference standings, University of New England, on Tuesday evening.
Sophomore guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) and Motroni paced Endicott's starting five offensively with 16 and 15 points, respectively, but it was 11 points off the bench from senior captain Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.) on 4-of-6 shooting including 3-of-5 from three-point range that helped the team's reserves outscore Curry's 30-9. Sophomore guard Drew Sawyer (Norwalk, Conn.) scored seven points while senior captain Matt Kneece (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and sophomore guard Stephen Basden (Lynn, Mass.) each added five points apiece off the bench.
Taking on the CCC's leading scorer, Curry senior guard Antonio Jones (Dorchester, Mass.), Endicott was able to limit Jones to 3-of-11 from the floor a first half that saw the Gulls take a commanding 42-27 by halftime. Jones would end up finishing the game right at his season average of 18.9 points by scoring a game-high 19 by going 5-of-17 with 2-of-6 behind the three-point line and 7-of-8 coming at the free throw line. Sophomore forward James Pina (Warwick, R.I.) and senior big man Matt Russell (South Portland, Maine) were the only other Curry players in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Russell added 13 rebounds for a double-double.
Gulls sophomore forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go along with two made baskets. Sawyer and Kneece led the team with three assists apiece with Walker, Motroni, and senior forward Tell White (New Castle, N.H.) each dishing out a pair. Endicott was able to produce 10 steals as a team with Sawyer, Makris, and Kneece all swiping two. Makris added two blocks to his stat line as he continues to lead the team in that statistical category.
As a team, Endicott shot 41% from the field and 43% (12-of-28) from three-point range. The team was also efficient at the free throw line, making 13-of-14 (93%) shots at the line. The Gulls were able to generate 20 points off 15 Curry turnovers. The largest lead in the game for Endicott came with 9:54 remaining in the second half as they lead by 23 points at 64-41.
