BEVERLY, Mass. — Endicott men’s basketball graduate forward Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester) has been named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District II First Team as well as the D3hoops.com All-Region II First Team, the organizations both announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Montagnino was accompanied by Suffolk’s Keenan Robertson (Rochester, N.Y.) and Western New England’s Tim Restall (Tolland, Conn.) as the only Conference of New England (CNE) representatives on the teams.
District II consists of teams from the CNE, Little East Conference (LEC), New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), and the University Athletic Association (UAA).
Meanwhile, for D3hoops.com, Region II consists of teams from just the CNE, Little East Conference (LEC), New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).
Montagnino is just the fifth Gull ever to be named to a D3hoops.com All-Region team. He joins Jalen Echevarria ’24 (Lynn), Keith Brown ’20 (Pelham, N.H.), Kamahl Walker ’17 (Worcester, Mass.), and Lance Greene ’13 (Dorchester, Mass.) as the only student-athletes in program history to achieve that honor.
He is also just the third student-athlete in program history to be named to an NABC All-District team (Walker in 2016-17; Brown in 2019-20).
The Xavier Club Basketball transfer averaged 22.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.1 steals in 33.1 minutes per game for the Gulls in his first season with the team.
He also shot the ball at a lights-out rate, hitting at 59.4% from the field, 44.8% from downtown, and 80.8% from the charity stripe, all of which ranked top four in the CNE.
His scoring average placed second in the CNE, while his rebounding and playmaking numbers each ranked top three in the league.
Additionally, his 22.4 points per game ranked 17th nationally while his assists per game ranked T-43rd.
His all-around dominance was on full display when the Gulls faced Hartford at home on January 18 in a 104-100 home CNE win. En route to the conference victory, Montagnino became just the second Gull ever to record a triple-double with his 33 points, 13 assists (program record), and 11 rebounds against the Hawks. It was also just the first regulation triple-double in program history (no overtime).
He nearly became the first (and only) player in program history with two triple-doubles to his name, as he fell just three assists shy of accomplishing the feat on January 7 against UNE (25 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists), and just two assists and two rebounds short back on November 16 against Lake Forest (18 points, eight rebounds, eight assists).
The graduate student always provided a reliable scoring, playmaking, and leadership presence on the floor for Coach Bettencourt during Endicott’s 18-win season.
YEAR IN REVIEW
Endicott posted an 18-8 overall record with a 15-3 record in league play this season.
The Gulls earned the No. 2 seed in the CNE Tournament, but ultimately fell to No. 3 Suffolk, 96-85, on February 27.
The 18 wins this season were the most for Coach Bettencourt’s squad since 2019-20.
The Blue and Green also won 15 conference games for the first time since 2016-17, and rattled off an 11-game win streak between January 15 and February 19 — the longest win streak since 2014-15.
