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WENHAM, Mass. — In a game in which the Endicott men's basketball team led cover to cover, the Gulls were dialed in for a commanding win over Gordon College, 82-65, Saturday afternoon inside the Bennett Center in Commonwealth Coast Conference action as senior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) poured in a season-high 29 points.
Before the game, Gordon honored one of the nation's leading rebounders in senior forward Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) in a Senior Day ceremony to celebrate his four-year career with the Fighting Scots.
Just as the Fighting Scots looked to rebound their way back into the game behind Johnson's double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds), the effort fell short again this time around.
Walker set a new career-high with 12 made field goals, which is just one shy of the Endicott's single-game program record, to go with four rebounds, one assist, and a game-high three steals.
The Gulls clung to a 38-33 lead at halftime and grew that edge to 17 points with 1:23 left in the game to ensure that there would be no game-winning buzzer beater attempt from the hosts like the last time these two teams met back on 01/05/17.
With the win, Endicott moved atop the CCC standings at 17-4 overall and 12-2 in conference play with four games remaining in the regular season.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Gulls are 23-17 overall and 12-8 on the road in the all-time series against Gordon.
- Endicott has won the past six meetings, including an 84-83 nailbiter in the most recent matchup before today on 01/05/17 in Beverly, Mass. when Gordon's potential game-winning shot got stuck between the rim and backboard as time expired.
- Walker is currently ninth among all active players in all of NCAA Division III Men's Basketball in career points scored with 1,715 to his name.
- Walker now has nine games this season scoring 20+ points.
- Senior forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) notched his third double-double of the season and the 23rd of his career with his 13 points and 10 rebounds that tied for a game-high with Gordon's Johnson.
- Senior guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) joined Walker and Sampson in double digits as he chipped in 13 points.
FOR THE FOES
- The Fighting Scots placed four student-athletes in double figures as sophomore forward Garrisson Duvivier (Brockton, Mass.) and junior guard Jaren Young (San Francisco, Calif.) both tallied 14 points apiece.
- Sophomore guard Jake Haar (Huntington Beach, Calif.), who leads the country in three-point field goal percentage by knocking down 55.9 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc, added 12 points, including 2-of-6 from downtown.
- Johnson, who leads the country in a tie for the most rebounds in a single game earlier this season with 27 rebounds, pulled down a team-best 10 (tied for game-high) today for his 14th double-double of the season (30th career) to increase his national-leading 6.55 offensive rebounds per game average and is second in the country with 15.4 overall rebounds per game.
- Johnson has also grabbed the second-most rebounds in all of Division III this season with 318 to his name.
- Gordon came into the game boasting a 13.5 rebound margin per game, good for best in all of NCAA Division III men's basketball, as well as ranked first in the conference in offensive rebounds per game (16.90) (also the 3rd-best effort in the country), and was the conference leader with 17.0 assists per game.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Gulls (17-4, 12-2 CCC) hits the road again to face Nichols on Wednesday, February 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Gordon (12-9, 9-5 CCC) travels to Bristol, R.I. to take on the Roger Williams Hawks on Wednesday, February 8 at 7:30 p.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
