BEVERLY, Mass. — Endicott men’s basketball has received three Conference of New England (CNE) Postseason Award honors, the league office announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) highlighted the Gulls honorees with his second consecutive CNE Player of the Year award and an All-CNE First Team appearance. Meanwhile, head coach Kevin Bettencourt earned Coach of the Year honors and forward Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) accompanied Montagnino on the All-CNE First Team.
Joey DaSilva (Windham, N.H.) also represented the Gulls on the CNE Community Service Team for his charitable contributions and outstanding leadership within the Endicott community this season.
CNE PLAYER OF THE YEAR | ALL-CNE FIRST TEAM
Marcus Montagnino | Gr. | F | Gloucester
Montagnino becomes the fifth student-athlete in conference history to be named a back-to-back CNE Player of the Year recipient, and is the first Gull ever to do so.
He joins Eric Simonelli ’01 as the only Gulls in program history to be named Conference Player of the Year twice.
Montagnino averaged 22.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.7 steals in 27 games played this season.
His shooting splits were impressively efficient all around, as he shot 57.8% from the field, 34.8% from three-point territory, and 81.5% from the free throw line.
The graduate’s 601 total points scored were third-most in program single-season history.
Throughout the season, he carried the brunt of the offensive workload, especially when frontcourt mate Kinney was sidelined for a period of time in the middle of the season.
In CNE play, Montagnino led all scorers with 21.6 points per game, ranked second in assists per game (4.3), and third in rebounds per game (9.2).
Back in November, he became the second Gull ever (Keith Brown ’20) to receive United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Player of the Week following a 26.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game statline.
His steady play throughout the season aided Endicott to its longest win streak ever (20 consecutive; active), and along the way, he personally kept the streak alive via some incredible late-game clutch performances.
The most iconic of such occurred at Roger Williams back on February 3, when the Gulls trailed by 10 with just under four minutes remaining. After going on a run, they closed the deficit to just one point with 44 seconds to play. Out of a timeout, Montagnino went to work on the baseline, stepped back, pulled up with a turnaround jumper from just below the left elbow, and drilled his midrange fadeaway to put the Gulls in front for the first time all game with 2.1 seconds remaining.
For his efforts throughout the season, he earned four CNE Player of the Week awards along the way (11/17/25, 1/5/26, 1/26/26, 2/16/26).
ALL-CNE FIRST TEAM
Elijah Kinney | Jr. | F | Nashville, Tenn.
Kinney put up a historic year in his own right for the Blue and Green in 2025-26.
He averaged career-highs across the board, and was a two-way centerpiece for Coach Bettencourt’s squad.
Kinney posted averages of 22.0 points per game, 11.7 rebounds per game, 2.7 blocks per game, and 1.0 steals per game.
He amassed a total of 18 double-doubles over the course of the season, which ranks second nationally.
Meanwhile, his 11.7 rebounds per game rank sixth in Division III, and his 2.7 blocks rank ninth.
Back in December, he became the third Gull in program history to earn USBWA National Player of the Week honors, accompanying Montagnino as a recipient this season. The two are the first pair of teammates ever to earn the award in the same season.
The junior big man was also named the CNE Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player following a terrific two-game stretch in which he notched 45 points (15-29, 51.7%), 29 rebounds, seven blocks, seven steals, and three assists in 65:28 minutes played.
Most memorably, he ignited Endicott’s offense by scoring 10 of the team’s first 16 points in the CNE Championship, electrifying the MacDonald Gymnasium crowd right out of the gate. He already had a double-double by halftime (18 points, 10 rebounds), and concluded the game with a team-high 23 points (8-14 FG), 12 rebounds, four blocks, two assists, and one steal.
Over the course of the season, he earned two D3hoops.com Team of the Week appearances (12/9/25; 12/16/25) and four CNE Player of the Week awards (11/24/25, 12/8/25, 12/15/25, 2/23/26).
KEVIN BETTENCOURT | COACH OF THE YEAR
Head Coach Kevin Bettencourt has been named Coach of the Year for the third time in his Endicott career (2016-17, 2019-20).
Bettencourt led the Gulls to unparalleled success in 2025-26, which was his 12th season at the helm.
So far, the Gulls have set program records in wins (26), longest winning streak (20 games), and best D3hoops.com national ranking (11; week 13).
Under his guidance, this year’s squad became the first in CNE history to play a perfect in-conference slate (16-0) and win a championship.
With their success, the Gulls earned the seventh position in the National Poll Index (NPI), and were named a host team in the DIII NCAA Tournament.
Bettencourt looks to lead the Gulls through their pod, which tips off this Friday in MacDonald Gymnasium.
WHAT’S NEXT
No. 11 Endicott (26-1) hosts Neumann (19-9) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this Friday, March 6 for a 6:30 PM tipoff.
