WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Endicott men’s basketball team’s NCAA run came to an end in heartbreaking fashion against The College of Wooster, falling 91-83 in overtime in the Second Round of the 2016 NCAA DIII Men’s Basketball Tournament inside the DuFour Center on Saturday night.
The Gulls opened the game with a three-pointer by junior forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) at 19:38, before the Fighting Scots tied the score at 3-all on the next possession with freshman guard Mitch Balser (Centerville, Ohio) draining a three at 19:13.
Wooster took its first lead of the game at 7-6 on junior forward/center Dan Fanelly’s (Uniontown, Ohio) layup at 15:20, but it was Endicott who put its foot on the gas after going up 10-8 and caught fire with an 8-0 run from the 6:17 mark to 4:06 to lead 25-14 and then carried a 33-27 advantage into the locker room at the break.
It was a strong defensive effort early on as the score was stalled at 11-10 in favor of Endicott at 10:03 until junior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) sunk a three-pointer at 7:31 to end the scoring drought for both teams.
In the second half, it Endicott in the driver’s seat as the Gulls held 12-point leads five different times throughout the game, including four in the second stanza.
Wooster kept fighting and chipped away to eventually bring it within a two point game, down 70-68, with 1:25 remaining in regulation after trimming several 12 point deficits in the game.
Walker’s pair of free throws made it 72-68 with 1:18 on the clock, but junior forward Milt Davis (Cincinnati, Ohio) knocked down a clutch trey with 0:38 left to make it 72-71, and the Scots stole the ball with 23 ticks for a layup to take a 73-72 lead for their first lead since the 15:20 mark of the first half.
Walker got fouled on the ensuing possession and made the second of two free throws to tie the game at 73 with seven seconds remaining as the teams headed to overtime.
Wooster struck first in OT with a bucket from Fanelly and Endicott grabbed its only edge of the extra period, 76-75, on junior guard Max Motroni‘s (West Warwick, R.I) two free throws as the Scots slowly pulled away for good as they punched their ticket to the NCAA DIII Sweet Sixteen.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- This was the Gulls’ second NCAA overtime game in program history, and fourth overtime game this season in which Endicott has a 1-3 record.
- Endicott had never before played Wooster on the hardwood until tonight.
- Motroni has scored in double figures in all 29 games he has appeared in this season, with nine games scoring 20+ points, as he scored a game-high 23 points.
- The Gulls placed three in double figures as junior guard Drew Sawyer (Norwalk, Conn.) joined Motroni (23) and Walker (20) with 12 points off the bench on a game-high 4-of-6 from three-point range.
- Junior guard Stephen Basden (Lynn, Mass.) tied for a game-high with eight rebounds to go with his seven points.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Round | Location | Coach |
| 03/02/2000 | at Hamilton | L, 85-68 | First Round | N/A | James Cosgrove |
| 03/04/2004 | Babson | L, 66-56 | First Round | Beverly, Mass. | Michael Plansky |
| 03/03/2005 | at Western Conn. St. | L, 73-62 | First Round | N/A | Michael Plansky |
| 03/03/2006 | Tufts | L, 83-60 | First Round | Cortland, N.Y. | Chris Millette |
| 03/02/2012 | Oswego St. | L, 72-71 (OT) | First Round | Oswego, N.Y. | Phil Rowe |
| 03/06/2015 | No. 17 Stockton | L, 81-61 | First Round | Galloway, N.Y. | Kevin Bettencourt |
| 03/04/2016 | No. 22 Catholic | W, 84-76 | First Round | Washington, D.C. | Kevin Bettencourt |
| 03/05/2016 | Wooster | L, 91-83 (OT) | Second Round | Washington, D.C. | Kevin Bettencourt |
FOR THE FOES
- Wooster has reached the Div. III sectional round (“Sweet 16”) 10 times over the last 18 years, highlighted by runs to the 2011 national championship game and to the semifinals two other times (2003, 2007).
- The Fighting Scots placed four student-athletes in double figures as sophomore guard Spencer Williams (Bedford, Ohio)chipped in 19 points, freshman guard Reece Dupler (Newark, Ohio) added 18 points in addition to his team-high eight rebounds (tied for game-high), and Balser netted 16 points to go with Fanelly’s team-high 20 points.
- Wooster’s largest lead of the night was 10 points, up 91-81 with 17 seconds remaining in overtime.
NOTES
- After winning their third Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) title in the past five years, the Gulls made their seventh overall NCAA appearance (second consecutive) in program history and advanced to the Second Round for the first time in program history.
- Second-year head coach Kevin Bettencourt, Bucknell ’06 has led the Gulls to a 42-17 overall record in his tenure and is the second coach in the team’s history to bring his team to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
WHAT’S NEXT
Wooster (23-7) advances to the NCAA’s Sectional Round (“Sweet 16”) on March 11 and will face Oswego St. (22-8), who downed Gwynedd Mercy University, 78-77, in Marietta, Ohio, while Endicott (19-11) sees its season come to a close. $website.include(“rich-footer”)
NCAA DIII MEN’S BASKETBALL FIRST/SECOND ROUND SCHEDULE
FIRST ROUND
Friday, March 4, 2016
All First/Second Round games hosted by Catholic University of America
Game 1: Wooster 96, No. 14 Lancaster Bible 83
Game 2: Endicott 84, No. 22 Catholic 76
SECOND ROUND
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Wooster (23-7) 91, Endicott (19-11) 83 (OT)
THIRD ROUND
Friday, March 11, 2016
Wooster (23-7) vs. Oswego St. (22-8)
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Women’s Basketball
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The fourth-seeded Endicott women’s basketball team fell to top-seeded Keene St. College, 72-62, Saturday afternoon as the Gulls saw their season end in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Semifinals inside the Alumni Healthful Living Center.
In a game that was back-and-forth for a majority of the contest, Keene St. started the game on a 6-0 run through the first two and half minutes before Endicott used a 9-0 run to jumpstart its own offense.
The Owls held a 17-15 edge at the end of the first quarter and a clung to a narrow 38-32 advantage at halftime.
The Gulls out-scored the Owls, 18-14, in the third quarter, but nine of senior guard Kelsey Cognetta’s (Stamford, Conn.) 13 points came as part of a dominant 20-point effort by the Owls to close out the game in the fourth quarter and earned the right to advance to Sunday’s ECAC title game.
The biggest difference in this game was the battle off the glass, as Keene St. grabbed 44 rebounds compared to Endicott’s 30, in which 18 of the Owls’ board were offensive and turned into 19 second chance points.
Playing in the final game of her collegiate career, senior guard Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) scored 13 points, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, and dished out a game-high five assists for the Gulls.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The game saw nine ties and 18 lead changes, the most lead changes in a game for Endicott this season.
- The Gulls placed three student-athletes in double figures as junior forward Sarah Hood (Burlington, Conn.) led the way with 15 points, Cuddy added 13, and sophomore forward Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) chipped in 12 points, respectively.
- Endicott’s largest lead of the game was by three points with 4:57 left in the first quarter.
FOR THE FOES
- The Owls made their seventh ECAC postseason appearance tonight after falling to UMass Boston in the Little East Conference (LEC) Semifinals, 51-39, on Friday, Feb. 26. in Willimantic, Conn.
- Keene State is back in the ECAC championship game for the first time since 2012.
- 27-year head coach Keith Boucher has led the program to school record 23 wins in 2015-16 with today’s victory. The Owls won 11 games straight to open the season.
- Junior forward Sarah Kober (Easthampton, Mass.) had a game-high 19 points (also a career-high) as part of her double-double effort on the afternoon with a game-high 13 rebounds, eight of which were offensive.
- Junior guard/forward Stephanie D’Annolfo (Tyngsborough, Mass. added 18 points and eight rebounds, while Cognetta chipped in 13 points.
- The Owls’ largest lead of the game was 12 points with 1:12 remaining in the game.
NOTES
- Endicott is 1-6 all-time against Keene St. dating back prior to the 2002 season.
- Endicott fell, 60-56, to Keene St. in the Gulls’ home opener on 11/24/15 earlier this season.
- The Gulls, made their 11th overall appearance in the ECAC tournament in program history in 2016 and first since the team celebrated its first ECAC Championship in 2014 with a 79-76 win over Smith College on March 9, 2014, and defeated visiting Elms College, 92-56 on Wednesday, March 2 to advance to the ECAC Semifinals for the sixth time in program history.
WHAT’S NEXT
No. 4 Endicott (17-12) sees its season end, while No. 1 Keene St. (23-5) will play No. 2 Western New England (19-10) for the 2016 ECAC Championship, in which the Owls won it all in 2010. $website.include(“rich-footer”)
ECAC DIVISION III NEW ENGLAND BRACKET
First Round – Wednesday, March 5 at Endicott College
#4 Endicott 92 vs. #5 Elms 56
Semifinals – Saturday, March 5 at Western New England University
Semifinal #1: No. 1 Keene State 72, No. 4 Endicott 62
Semifinal #2: No. 2 Western New England 70, No. 3 Suffolk 60
Championship – Sunday, March 6 at Western New England
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Women’s Ice Hockey Wins
REISTERSTOWN, Md. – The second-seeded Endicott women’s ice hockey team earned a 5-0 victory over third-seeded Morrisville State on Saturday night in the semifinal round of the Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC) Tournament at the Reisterstown Sportsplex.
With the win, Endicott (14-6-4) will play first-seeded Stevenson University (22-3-1) in the CHC Tournament finals on Sunday, March 6 at 4 p.m. The Mustangs, who are hosting this weekend’s tournament, defeated Becker, 5-3, in their semifinal round matchup earlier today.
Morrisville State sees its season come to a close at 10-14-3.
Maggie Layo (Sandwich, Mass.) potted two goals and also dished out one assist to lead the Gulls offensively, while Vendela Jonsson (Linkoping, Sweden) stopped 21 shots to register her eighth shutout of the year and also improve to 12-5-4 on the season.
Lexi Klein‘s (Shoreview, Minn.) goal at 13:46 of the first period – which was assisted by Meredith Vlachos (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and Teneal Perry (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) – served as the game-winner.
Caroline Hughes (Andover, Mass.) also added her sixth goal of the season at 8:49 of the third to make it 4-0, while Vlachos capped the scoring for Endicott with her fourth tally of the year at the 14:44 mark of the final period.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott is now 2-0-1 against Morrisville State this season.
- Layo (2g, 1a), Hughes (1g, 1a), and Vlachos (1g, 1a) all finished with multi-point games in tonight’s win.
- The Gulls are 3-1-0 in neutral site games during their 2015-16 campaign.
FOR THE FOES
- Renee Schmaltz (Beaumont, Alberta) made 23 saves in the loss (8-12-3).
- Kaitlyn Schlake (Nampa, Idaho) tallied a team-high three shots
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Women’s Ice Hockey
BEVERLY– Third-seeded Salve Regina University claimed its first Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Northeast Tournament title in program history on Saturday afternoon in a front of a sellout crowd at Raymond J. Bourque Arena with a 4-0 victory over first-seeded Endicott.
With the win, Salve Regina (17-10-1) has also earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament – its first in program history – and eclipsed its program record for victories in a season for the second straight year. With the loss, Endicott sees its magical run as a first-year NCAA Division III varsity program come to a close at 16-9-2 overall.
Salve Regina struck first at the 8:11 mark of the opening period when Kevin Clare (Chicago, Ill.) gathered a loose puck near the blue line and sniped a wrister through traffic past Endicott goaltender Kevin Aldridge (Beverly Hills, Mich.) for his first goal of the season (27 games played) and a 1-0 advantage.
In the second, Tommy Evangelista (Methuen, Mass.) made it 2-0 at 13:59 with a one-timer from the slot off a pass via Shaun Altshuller (Nepean, Ontario), who was positioned behind the net, for his third of the year.
The Seahawks tacked on two more goals in the third as Alex Pompeo (Hingham, Mass.) netted an empty netter from his own blue line at 17:57, while James Malone (Beachwood, N.J.) tucked home his fifth goal of the season at 18:24 to cap the scoring.
Salve Regina goaltender Blake Wojtala (Trenton, Mich.) stopped a season-high 43 shots to improve to 13-7-0 on the year and also earn ECAC Northeast Tournament Most Outstanding Player (MOP) honors. In three games in the tournament, Woltjala did not allow a single goal and compiled 93 saves.
Aldridge finished the game with 45 saves in the loss (16-9-2).
ECAC NORTHEAST ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Most Outstanding Player (MOP)
– Blake Wojtala (Trenton, Mich.), Salve Regina University
– Pat Thompson (Hellertown, Pa.), Salve Regina University
– Peter Gintoli (Shelton, Conn.), Salve Regina University
– Kevin Aldridge (Beverly Hills, Mich.), Endicott College
– Tommy Besinger (Milton, Mass.), Endicott College
– Frank Butler (East Haven, Conn.), Nichols College
– Stephen McManus (Westwood, Mass.), Wentworth Institute of Technology
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Salve Regina is now 2-1-0 against Endicott in the all-time series.
- The Seahawks improved to 8-13 in postseason games with today’s win.
- Altshuller and Liam Centrella (Andover, Mass.) both finished the contest with a pair of assists (both season-highs).
- Endicott’s Ryan Dougherty (Sterling Heights, Mich.) registered a game-high six blocked shots, defensively.
- Clare finished with a plus-4 +/- rating, while Evangelista, Altshuller, Centrella, and Pompeo were all a plus-3.
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Women’s Lacrosse
BEVERLY, Mass. Â– The Endicott women’s lacrosse team dropped a 13-7 decision versus visiting Wheaton College Saturday afternoon in the Gulls’ home opener at Hempstead Stadium in non-conference action.
The Lyons raced out to a quick 3-0 lead, thanks in part to two free position goals from senior Jenna Tewksbury (Concord, N.H.).
Freshman Jaime Balboni (Billerica, Mass.) recorded her first of two goals on the day with 20:36 remaining in the first half on a feed from sophomore midfielder Jess Glenn (Underhill, Vt.) who notched her first of a career-high three assists in the effort.
The Lyons led 9-5 at the half as the Gulls turned the ball over 12 times in the first thirty minutes compared to just seven for the guests.
After trading goals to begin the second stanza, Endicott got to within a three-goal deficit, down 10-7, midway through the second half (18:00) on freshman defender Molly McMahon‘s (Hanover, Mass.)Â first career goal, but then Wheaton had three unanswered scores to end the game as the Lyons out-shot the Gulls, 33-15 on the afternoon.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Junior goalie Maura Grady (Marblehead, Mass.) made 15 saves in the defeat (0-2) and also grabbed a game-high six groundballs.
- Freshman midfielder Ali Campbell (Lakeville, Mass.) won a game-high five draw controls.
- Junior midfielder Emily Whitney (Rye, N.H.) and Balboni each scored two goals for the Gulls.
- Glenn tallied a career-high three assists, which was also a game-high.
- Freshman midfielder Ali Campbell (Lakeville, Mass.) won a game-high five draw controls.
- Endicott is 2-5 all-time against Wheaton and 1-2 at home dating back prior to the 2005 season.
- Endicott had won two consecutive meetings against Wheaton coming into today’s game, including a thrilling 12-11 double-overtime victory in Norton, Mass. on March 14, 2015 last season.
FOR THE FOES
- Sophomore Katie Peters (Medway, Mass.) led the way for the Lyons as she recorded a hat trick.
- Senior Brooke Sabol (Landgrove, Vt.) and senior Allie Bush (Kennebunk, Maine) both recorded two goals for the Lyons along with Tewksbury.Â
- Freshman Maddy Lahm (Lyme, Conn.) picked up a team-high five groundballs.
- Sophomore goalie Molly Witten (Bethesda, Md.) registered four saves as she faced 11 shots on goal and earned her second win of the season (2-0).
NOTES
- Endicott is 12-4 in home openers since the 2001 season, having won nine consecutive from 2004 to 2012 and two in a row before today’s loss.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (0-2) returns to play on Wednesday, March 9 at 5:00 p.m. as the Gulls host Wellesley College in non-conference action. Wheaton (2-0) welcomes Trinity (Conn.) on Sunday, March 6 at 3:00 p.m. in the Lyons’ home opener.
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Men’s Volleyball
BEVERLY– The Endicott men’s volleyball team claimed a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-21) league victory over Newbury College on “Senior Day” inside MacDonald Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Prior to today’s match, seniors Cameron Little (San Diego, Calif.), John Osborne (Freehold, N.J.), Dan Seaver (Milford, Mass.), Chandler Tayek (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.), and Alex Wasik (Milford, Mass.) were all honored for their contributions towards the men’s volleyball program.
In the Gulls’ 25-17 first set victory, the seniors shined as Seaver contributed an all-around stat line of two kills, one service ace, and five digs. Wasik also powered the attack with three kills (.333), while Little ran the offense with 12 assists, to go along with a service ace. On the defensive end, Tayek recorded two digs to solidify play from the back row.
The Gulls then went on to take set two (25-17) behind a match-high 14 kills (.333), which included a set-high five putaways from Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.), before closing out the sweep. In set three (25-21), Endicott fended off three separate rallies from Newbury late in the set prior its match-clinching 6-2 run that broke open a 19-19 tie. Riorden fueled the spurt with one kill and two service aces, while Seaver also added a kill to help the Gulls improve to 6-0 in league play.
Overall in the match, Riorden led all student-athletes with 15 kills (.367), to go along with four service aces, and two digs.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott is now 26-10 against Newbury in the all-time series, which dates back to 2000.
- Wasik finished with seven kills (.294) to bump his 2016 season total to 137. Wasik’s previous career-best in a season was 133, which he set last year.
- Seaver compiled eight kills, a .438 hitting percentage, and six digs in the win.
- Little dished out a match-high 38 assists; it’s the eighth time this season Little has registered 30 or more assists in a match.
- Tayek wrapped up his “Senior Day” match with five digs and one kill.
- Daniel Toth (Glenwood, N.J.) rounded out the list of highlights for Endicott with six kills (.455), three block assists, two digs and one service ace.
FOR THE FOES
- Xavier Brown-Rose (Wilbraham, Mass.) notched a team-high 12 kills (.250), while Wade Robidoux (Agawam, Mass.) added eight kills (.235) and five digs in the loss.
- Skyelar Whitehead (Belchertown, Mass.) and Stephen Watson (Monterey, Calif.) also contributed five kills apiece to the Nighthawks’ attack.
- Watson ranked second on the team in digs with six, while Zach Kaufman (Newton, Mass.) was first with eight.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (11-8, 6-0 NECC) hosts Regis on Monday, March 7 inside MacDonald Gymnasium at 7 p.m. Newbury (3-16, 1-6) returns to action on Thursday, March 17 against Daniel Webster, on the road, at 7 p.m.
