Gulls Suffer 75-72 Setback In Overtime Clash With Wentworth

BEVERLY, Mass. – It was another Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) overtime thriller between the Endicott men's basketball team and the visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards Tuesday night inside MacDonald Gymnasium as the guests secured a 75-72 victory in dramatic fashion.

Junior guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) tied his career-high with 25 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double in the defeat.

Wentworth came out hot, starting the game with a 16-0 run until Endicott managed to get on the scoreboard with a pair of Motroni's free throws at the 13:08 mark of the first half.

Endicott responded with a 12-0 run of its own to make it 16-12 with 7:31 to play in the opening half.

Wentworth fought back with a 9-0 run to go up 25-12 with 5:10 remaining in the first stanza as the Leopards eventually took a 32-26 lead into the locker room as senior guard Kyle Romich (Groton, Mass.) led the way with 16 points. Motroni carried Endicott by scoring half of the team's points (13) in the first twenty minutes.

The Gulls were able to grab a six-point lead (their largest) with 9:05 to play in the second half, 52-46, but the lead didn't last as the second half plus overtime featured 11 knotted scores as it truly was a battle right down to the end.

Junior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) converted an and-one layup with four seconds remaining in the game to send it to overtime, tied 62-62.

The Leopards led by as much as three in overtime, but Motroni tied it once more at 72-all with an electric three-pointer with 55 seconds remaining.

Sophomore forward Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) sent the Leopards flying onto the court with his game-winning trey with 1.3 seconds left to secure the team's third win in a row.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Motroni has scored 20+ points in six games this season and has double-digits in all 23 games he's played.
• The Gulls placed two more student-athletes in double figures as junior forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) was one rebound shy of his third consecutive double-double, as he finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Walker added 10 points.
• Wentworth snapped Endicott's four-game win streak earlier this season and again today.
• Endicott and Wentworth played to overtime for the sixth time in their series history, where Wentworth owns a 4-2 all-time record in the extra session
• Endicott is 1-2 in overtime this season.

FOR THE FOES

• Romich went off for a game-high 32 points on 10-of-21 shooting (3-of-6 3PT) and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe.
• The Leopards placed two more student-athletes in double figures as sophomore guard Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) and Ganley chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively.
• Wentworth's largest lead of the game (16 points) came at the 13:38 mark of the first half.
• Wentworth swept Endicott in the regular season.
• The Leopards out-rebounded the Gulls, 43-41, as senior forward Ian Therriault (Auburn, Maine) brought down a team-high eight boards.

NOTES

• Endicott is now 22-10 all-time against the Leopards, as the most recent meeting before today was a 77-75 win for Wentworth in Boston, Mass. on Jan. 14, 2016.
• The Gulls have won five of the last seven head-to-head matchups against Wentworth and are 13-4 at home all-time dating back to 1995 in head-to-head matchups.

WHAT'S NEXT

Both teams are back in action on Saturday, February 20 as the Gulls (14-10, 11-6 CCC) host Western New England on Senior Day at 1:00 p.m., while Wentworth (14-10, 12-5 CCC) welcomes Roger Williams on Alumni Day at 3:00 p.m. in the final game of the regular season. 

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