Men's Basketball Tops Hartford, 74-57

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Endicott men's basketball team knocked off the Hartford Hawks, 74-57, for its eighth consecutive win on Saturday afternoon at Chase Arena.

Freshman forward Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) led the Gulls with 19 points (8-15 FG, 2-5 3PT), 13 rebounds, and two steals in the win.

Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.) notched 19 points (6-15 FG, 2-7 3PT, 5-6 FT) to go along with his four rebounds, three assists, and game-high three steals.

Jalen Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) also recorded 19 points (7-14 FG, 2-6 3PT, 3-3 FT) and snagged four rebounds for the Gulls.

Endicott jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes thanks to five quick points from Kinney (three pointer and layup) and a two-point jumper from Hill.

After a three-minute 7-0 scoring run brought Hartford back to within one (10-9), the two teams traded baskets for the remaining 15 minutes of the first half. The Gulls eventually headed to the break with a 30-26 advantage.

To open the second stanza, the Blue and Green ripped off a 14-3 run to increase its lead to 44-30 with less than 15 minutes to play. 

Hill drilled another two point jumper to give Endicott its largest lead (69-48) with 4:36 remaining, and from there Endicott was able to control the tempo the rest of the way, capping off the win with a 74-57 final score.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• This is the first ever meeting between the two programs.
• Kinney recorded his sixth double-double of the season.
• Endicott held the lead for 38:56 of the game, as opposed to Hartford's 0:10.
• The eight game win streak is Endicott's longest since 2014-15 (13 games).
• The Gulls outscored the Hawks 22-5 in fastbreak points.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (10-3) welcomes Nichols to MacDonald Gymnasium on Tuesday, January 9 for a 7:30 PM tipoff. Hartford (5-8) also tips off at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, as it travels to Roger Williams for a road contest. 

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(Photo Credit -David Le '10)