Men’s Basketball Holds Off Wentworth, 85-84

BOSTON, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team defeated Wentworth, 85-84, in a Conference of New England (CNE) battle inside the Nelson Recreation Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Gulls had a quartet of student-athletes in double figures.

Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) turned in an all-around performance with 22 points (9-15 FG, 4-4 FT), eight boards, four assists, and three steals. 

Drew Brown (Pelham, N.H.) produced 16 points (6-8 FG, 3-4 3PT), six boards, and four dimes in 33 minutes. 

Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) and Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.) contributed 16 and 14 points, respectively. 

The Gulls captured the early 25-9 lead via a 21-5 spurt with 10:35 left in the opening stanza. The scoring run saw six different student-athletes courtesy of Brown (7), Cam Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.) (3), Hill (3), Max Grenert (Beverly, Mass.) (3), Kinney (2), and Joey DaSilva (Windham, N.H.) (3). 

The Gulls and Leopards traded baskets for the last two minutes of the half. 

Meanwhile, Montagnino nailed a free-throw line fadeaway jumper as the buzzer sounded to give the visitors a 49-35 advantage at the break.

In the second half, the Gulls lead by as many as 16 points (58-42) via a Kinney lay-in. Wentworth later cut the Endicott lead to four points (69-65) with 7:14 to play.

From there, the Leopards leveled the game at 73-73, before Hill responded with a trifecta for the Blue and Green with 3:16 remaining.

With two minutes left, Keliher banked in a deep three-pointer to take a 79-73 lead. On the ensuing possession, Wentworth's Russell Dolabany (Westwood, Mass.) netted a trifecta with 1:42 left to make it 79-76. 

Montagnino nailed two free throws before the Leopards scored a bucket to make it 81-78 with 47 seconds to play.

Hill and Montagnino put the game on ice at the charity stripe down the stretch. The Gulls' defense held tough to capture the conference road triumph.  

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Blue and Green have won 16 of the last 17 meetings dating back to 1/3/17.
• The Gulls had 20 assists on 33 made field goals this afternoon.
• Despite the Wentworth comeback, the game saw three ties and no lead changes.
• Endicott hit 10+ three-pointers for the sixth time this winter.
• Endicott moved to 3-3 on the road in 2024-25.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (6-5, 3-1 CNE) hosts the University of New England (UNE) on Tuesday, December 7 at 5:30 PM. Wentworth (1-10, 0-4 CNE) remains at home against Curry on Tuesday at 7:00 PM.

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

(Photo Credit - Mazzie Hinsdale '26)