DUDLEY, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team lost a hard-fought conference matchup to Nichols College, 87-85, on Wednesday night.
Jalen Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) paced all scorers with a season-high 30 points on 11-for-20 shooting from the field (4-9 3PT, 4-5 FT) alongside four rebounds and four steals.
Ty Vitko (Dover, N.H.) and Drew Brown (Pelham, N.H.) highlighted the rest of the Gulls' double-digit scorers with 14 points each.
Endicott pushed Nichols to the brink in the second half despite trailing by as many as 16 points (48-32) with 17:52 to play in the stanza.
Echevarria fueled a 22-9 run for the Gulls over a 6:32 span with a team-high 11 points.
Liam Dunfee (Nahant, Mass.) also contributed four points, while Cam Homsey (Lawrence, Mass.) capped the spurt with a three-ball at the 11:20 mark (57-54).
Parker McLaren (Newburyport, Mass.) and Vitko accounted for the other four points (two each) during the run.
From there, Matt Boen (Mansfield, Mass.) eventually brought the game within one point, 60-59, via a contested layup against a 2-3 zone.
Nichols responded to that comeback attempt and every other rally by the Gulls the rest of the way, as highlighted in the following scenarios: 62-61 (6:47, McLaren pull-up), 85-83 (:09, Vitko three), 86-85 (:05, Echevarria two free throws), and 87-85 (:00, missed game-winning corner three-pointer).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Bison pushed their winning streak to 11 straight games.
- Nichols is 8-1 at home this season.
- Dunfee compiled six points, eight rebounds, and four assists in 22 minutes (the last three stat categories are season-highs).
- Brown notched season-highs for points (14) and minutes (21) tonight.
- Echevarria registered his fourth career 30+ point performance (career-high 35).
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (12-8, 7-5 CCC) hosts Hartford this Saturday at 3 PM. Nichols (17-3, 10-1 CCC) welcomes the University of New England to its campus on Saturday at 3 PM.
For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
(Photo Credit - Emma Purple '25)
