Feb. 24, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - Endicott College and Colby-Sawyer College have been battling for Commonwealth Coast Conference supremacy ever since the Gulls joined the conference in 1999. During its tenure in the conference, Endicott has racked up 19 CCC titles.
Saturday the men's and women's basketball teams will be looking for titles 20 and 21. The Gulls' women, seeded second in the North Division, will be traveling to New London, New Hampshire to tangle with the North's top-seeded Chargers in CCC Final Saturday at 2:00 PM while the men will host Colby-Sawyer, the No. 3 seed in the North, in the men's final Saturday night at 7:00 PM. Endicott earned a men's women's sweep of the Chargers during the regular season at MacDonald Gymnasium while Colby-Sawyer returned the favor in New London with a men's-women's sweep.
The men's basketball team has enjoyed the friendly confines of MacDonald Gymnasium - a place the Gulls have only lost once (61-60 to WPI, which is ranked in the top 10 by D3Hoops.com) - for the duration of the postseason. Endicott made quick work of Curry College (62-47) and Wentworth (74-60) in the semifinals behind senior co-captain Matt George (Dover, NH/Dover), who, along with Zach Ellis (Westford, MA/Westford Academy), is playing in his fourth CCC title game.
Endicott (18-9) is looking to become just the third team in school history to win three straight CCC titles, joining women's soccer and softball. And if the Gulls are going to accomplish the feat, they will need to get the most of George. The CCC Player of the Week is averaging 24.5 points on 13-of-26 shooting in two postseason games. Moreover, George has dropped in 9-of-16 three-point attempts and converted 14-of-16 free throw attempts in the postseason.
Junior forward Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro/Second Baptist School, TX) is second on the team in scoring (12.0 PPG) and first in rebounding (9.0) and steals (1.5) in the postseason. Ellis and sixth man Gary Corbett (Danbury, CT/Danbury) are both averaging 8.5 ppg while Ellis is leading the team with eight assists.
Sophomore Todd Burton (Lynn, MA/St. Mary's) and junior Mike Sullivan (Marshfield, MA/Marshfield) are the team's other starters. The point guard Burton has emerged as a court leader with his high-tempo style and is averaging 5.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals while Sullivan has been able to extend the defense with his shooting. He is a 50 percent shooter from the floor with 7.5 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Endicott has also got valuable minutes and production from freshmen Francis Mayi (Lawrence, MA/Lawrence) and Joey Burgos (Lawrence, MA/Lawrence). The Lawrence High graduates are averaging 3.0 and 2.5 points, respectively, during the playoffs, but their defensive contributions have been invaluable, teaming up to average 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting over 75 percent from the floor. Both will be central to the team's success.
Colby-Sawyer (17-9) has been on fire in the second half of the season, winning 13 of its final 14 games of the season. Andrew St. Clair creates matchup problems for any defense. The 6-foot-6 senior has the athletic ability of a guard in a big man's body.
St. Clair's 20.4 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per game lead the Chargers. Senior James Thorpe (12.1 PPG) provides a potent one-two punch and senior Collin Bray (7.5 PPG, 4.3 assists) runs the offense that is tops in the CCC in scoring (76.0 PPG). Colby-Sawyer can also get after the ball on defense. The Chargers lead the conference in turnovers margin (5.12) and steals (10.0).
George. Marinkovic and Ellis have helped the Gulls become on the best two-way teams in the conference, ranking third in both scoring offense (69.0) and scoring defense (59.2). Endicott is also first in field goal percentage (.496) and field goal percentage defense (.395) as well as rebounding defense (29.6) and rebounding margin (+6.8).
The women's basketball team was an unlikely candidate for the final. After dropping Curry (79-62) at home, the Gulls went on the road to upset the South's top seed, Nichols, 70-67, in overtime. But Colby-Sawyer 22-4) will be without a doubt the team's toughest challenge.
Endicott is making its first-ever appearance in the CCC final but the Gulls (18-9) have been given an infusion of youth in recent games. They have always relied on senior co-captains Jodi Brown (Coventry, RI/Coventry) and Liz Yuneman (Middle Village, NY/St. Francis) but freshman Nicole Young (Rockland, MA/Cardinal Spellman) has been playing her best basketball in the postseason.
The 6-foot-4 forward is averaging a double-double on a team-best 20 points and 10 rebounds in the playoffs, giving Endicott a deadly inside-outside attack. Brown (15.0 PPG) has made been the benefactor, sinking 7-of-12 three-pointers (.583 percent) to go along with a team-best seven steals. Fellow freshman Hayley Janelle (Madbury, NH/Oyster River) is also showing a propensity for clutch shooting. She was a central cog in the team's overtime win Thursday night and had all 10 of her playoff points in the semifinals.
Yuneman has been her steady self, averaging 12 points, 3.0 steals and 2.0 assists while Sarah Voigt (Kingston, NH/Sanborn Regional), Carly Haynes (Laconia, NH/Laconia) and Aubrey Drugan (Salem, NH/Bishop Guertin) are each averaging over 4.0 points while Drugan leads the teams with nine assists.
Colby-Sawyer enters Saturday's game riding a 16-game winning streak. The Chargers have three of top scorers in the conference during the regular season in Kristen Sorensen (13.6 PPG), Anne Coulter (9.3 PPG) and Stacey Hildreth (8.8 PPG).
As well as owning the best record in the CCC, Colby-Sawyer is also atop the conference leaderboard in the following categories: scoring offense (70.0 PPG); scoring margin (+18.2); field goal percentage defense (.306); three-point percentage defense (.250); rebounding offense (47.4); blocks (6.29) and steals (12.12).
Endicott is second in scoring offense (63.8) and turnover margin (+3.06); fourth in scoring defense (54.4), scoring margin (+ 9.2) and rebounding margin (+2.2); third in field goal percentage (.379); and fifth in field goal percentage defense (.336) and three-point field goal percentage (.320).
