BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott College men's basketball team fell to No. 14 nationally ranked Middlebury, 74-63, on Sunday afternoon in non-conference action at McDonald Gymnasium.
Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.) paced the Gulls with a career-high 24 points (10-17 FG, 2-3 3PT, 2-2 FT) in 26 minutes off the bench.
Meanwhile, Mark Barrett (Brookline, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with eight points, five rebounds, four assists, and four blocks. Matt Garry (Southington, Conn.) also tallied nine points to go along with six rebounds.
In the first half, Endicott went on a 7-3 scoring run powered by three straight buckets from Hill to cut the lead to 24-23 with 6:42 remaining before the Panthers closed out the stanza with a 34-25 advantage.
Middlebury then raced out to a 20-point lead in the second half (47-27) fueled by a 13-2 scoring run with 14:09 to play.
The Gulls responded with a furious comeback ignited by a 24-4 scoring run that drew the Gulls within six points with 1:25 remaining in the contest.
From there, the Panthers were able to halt Endicott's comeback bid and came away with a road victory.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Panthers led for 34:04 in today's matchup.
- Middlebury's largest lead came with 10:03 remaining in the second half (25 points, 60-35).
- Endicott outscored Middlebury off the bench, 38-11.
- The visitors outrebounded Endicott, 48-29.
- Endicott saw success in transition, outscoring the Panthers 19-3 on fast breaks.
- Middlebury is ranked No.14 in the D3hoops.com poll.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (2-2) will travel to Salve Regina on Wednesday, November 30 at 7:30 PM. No. 14 Middlebury (4-0) will go on the road to Rochester, N.Y. to compete in the NESCAC/UAA Challenge on December 3 & 4.
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(Photo Credit - Nick Grace '20)
