Second Half Surge Aids Gulls In 75-60 Win At Gordon

WENHAM, Mass. – The Endicott men's basketball team pulled away in the second half to come away with a 75-60 victory at cross-town rival Gordon College in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) contest Saturday afternoon inside the Bennett Center.

With the win, the Gulls improved to 9-6 overall and 6-2 in conference play, while Gordon fell to 7-8 on the season and 4-4 in conference play.

Endicott's junior forward Chris Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) had a three-point swing with a layup and an and-one at 18:56 and junior guard Kamahl Walker's (Worcester, Mass.) jumper at 17:41 opened the game with the Gulls on a 5-0 run.

A 9-3 Endicott lead at 16:35 on junior guard Max Motroni's (West Warwick, R.I.) pair of free throws soon turned into a 9-9 knot when Gordon's freshman guard Noah Szilagyi (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) nailed a three-pointer at the 15:06 mark.

The Fighting Scots took an 11-9 edge with 14:34 on the clock to begin a back-and-forth trade of leads with ties at 11-11, 14-14, 23-23, 25-25 in the first half until the Gulls could create some space with a 7-0 run to go up 32-25 with 4:08 remaining in the first twenty minutes.

The game featured seven ties and four lead changes and after a narrow 36-33 edge at halftime, the Gulls began to pull away as the last time the teams were tied was a 38-38 deadlock with 17:49 remaining in the game.

The Gulls built a double-digit lead with 11:55 on the clock on Motroni's trey, and kept the Fighting Scots battling from behind the rest of the way.

Motroni paced Endicott with a game-high 15 points on 4-14 FG, 2-of-5 three-point range and 5-6 FT, alongside eight rebounds, two assists and one steal in 30 minutes of action.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls placed three more student-athletes in double figures as Lipscomb had 13, Walker chipped in 12 and junior forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) added 11 to join Motroni.
• Junior guard Stephen Basden (Lynn Mass.) pulled down a season-high six offensive rebounds to go with a game-high 11 total boards to tie his career-high.
• Walker tied his career-high with five steals and extended his double-digit scoring streak to 27 games.
• Endicott tied its season-lowest number of turnovers (seven).
• The Gulls had a season-high seven blocks picked up by seven different student-athletes and a season-high 11 steals from six wearing the Blue and Green.

FOR THE FOES

• Freshman guard Eric Demers (West Wareham, Mass.) paced the team with 15 points.
• Junior forward Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• Gordon won the battle off the glass, 42-40.

NOTES

• Endicott is now 19-17 all-time against the Fighting Scots, as the most recent meeting before today was a 68-61 win on the road on Jan. 31, 2015.
• The Gulls have won the past two head-to-head matchups after losing five in a row against Gordon and are 11-8 on the road all-time dating back to the 1996 season.

WHAT'S NEXT

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday, January 19 as the Gulls (9-6, 6-2 CCC) host the University of New England at 5:30 p.m. and Gordon (7-8, 4-4 CCC) tips off at Wentworth in Boston, Mass. at 7:30 p.m. 

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