BEVERLY —The Endicott men’s basketball team opened the second half of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) slate with an 80-67 victory over Eastern Nazarene College to earn a regular-season sweep Saturday afternoon inside MacDonald Gymnasium.
A back-and-forth affair in the opening minutes gave way to Eastern Nazarene leading by as much as seven with 8:06 remaining in the first half on senior forward Corey Doran’s (Fairfield, Calif.) layup, as the Lions managed a 34-30 edge into the break and held Endicott’s senior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) scoreless in the opening stanza.
Endicott used a 50-point surge in the second half, thanks in part to an 11-0 run to open the half, highlighted by senior forward Daquan Sampson‘s (Germantown, Md.) dunk at the 18:44 mark to give the hosts a 39-34 lead and they never looked back.
The Lions got as close as trailing 57-56 with 8:59 to go on senior guard Christian Lynch’s (Alpharetta, Ga.) free throw, but the Gulls hit 5-of-10 treys attempted in the second half to create some separation.
Walker, senior forward Chris Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.), and freshman guard Keith Brown (Pelham, N.H.) each tallied 15 points to help the Gulls snap the Lions’ five-game win streak in the comeback effort.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Gulls are undefeated in conference play (5-0) on the home hardwood this season.
- Endicott placed four student-athletes in double figures as Sampson added 12 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
- Endicott pulled down a season-low 19 defensive rebounds as Eastern Nazarene won the battle off the glass, 39-32.
- The Gulls tied their season-high with six blocked shots and recorded a season-low eight personal fouls on the day.
FOR THE FOES
- The Lions had two student-athletes in double figures as Lynch poured in a game-high 20 points to go with a game-high nine rebounds and game-best six assists, while Doran chipped in 18 points.
NOTES
- Endicott is 20-10 all-time and 13-5 at home against Eastern Nazarene dating back to the 1994 season.
- The Gulls have won six of the past nine meetings, including a 72-68 road victory earlier this season in Quincy, Mass. on 12/03/16.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (13-4, 8-2 CCC) travels to Milton, Mass. to take on host Curry on Wednesday, January 25 at 5:30 p.m.
Eastern Nazarene (9-8, 6-4 CCC) hosts Gordon on Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00 p.m.
Men’s Hockey Falls
BEVERLY – University of New England freshman center Ryan Bloom (Northville, Mich.) netted the game-winning goal with 3.3-seconds remaining in overtime to give the Nor’easters a 4-3 conference win over No. 12/12 nationally ranked Endicott on Saturday evening at Raymond J. Bourque Arena. The victory for the Nor’easters also snapped Endicott’s 12-game winning streak, which was the longest activing winning streak among all three NCAA divisions entering play today.
Bloom scored the game-winning tally by winning his own neutral zone face-off, splitting a pair of defenders, and shooting a wrister, top-shelve glove side, on a partially screened Kevin Aldridge (Birmingham, Mich.) into the top-right corner of the net for his ninth goal of the season (third GWG).
The neutral zone face-off – which took place with roughly eight seconds to play in the contest – wouldn’t have been made possible if it weren’t for an extra-effort play from Trevor Fleurent (Biddeford, Maine) in UNE’s defensive end.
Fleurent caused the neutral zone face-off by diving and deflecting an Endicott D-to-D pass that came from the right point all the way down to the Gulls’ defensive end, originally resulting in an icing violation. After all four referees met at center ice, it was determined that the next face-off would be taken there, eventually leading to Bloom’s game-winner.
UNE goaltender Tate Sproxton (Surrey, British Columbia) compiled 38 saves in the win (5-2-1), while Aldridge stopped 30 shots in the loss (10-3-2).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott never led in today’s matchup.
- Ross Olsson (Billerica, Mass.) tied up the game at 1-1 at the 8:25 mark of the second period, while Logan Day (Seminole, Fla.) and Carter Horwitz (Tustin, Calif.) forced OT with goals at 3:05 and 8:32 of the third, respectively.
- Josh Bowes (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) won a team-high 14 face-offs.
FOR THE FOES
- Brady Fleurent (Biddeford, Maine), T. Fleurent, Tucker Ross (Ashburn, Va.), and Bloom all scored for the Nor’easters. B. Fleurent added his 12th of the season in the first, while Fleurent (13) and Ross (4) scored in the second before Bloom’s tally in OT.
- Dustin Walsh (Concord, N.H.) blocked a game-high five shots.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (12-3-2, 6-3-1 CCC) hosts Nichols on Thursday, January 26 at 7 PM. UNE (8-6-2, 5-4-2 CCC) welcomes Western New England to its campus next Thursday at 7 PM.
Women’s Basketball Wins
BEVERLY — The Endicott women’s basketball team earned its first overtime victory of the season, 78-73, to complete a regular-season sweep over Eastern Nazarene College in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Saturday afternoon inside MacDonald Gymnasium to begin the second half of the conference slate.
The Gulls jumped out to a 14-5 lead after the first 10 minutes of action, holding an opponent to a season-low five points in a quarter, before finding themselves up by just four at the halftime break, 27-23.
Eastern Nazarene exploded for 28 points in the fourth quarter and tied the game with 44 seconds remaining in regulation as junior guard Kayla Torio (Manteca, Calif.) connected from beyond the arc to send the game to overtime.
Seven points from freshman guard Emily Pratt (Gardner, Mass.) in the extra time proved to be a difference maker as Pratt went on to set a new career high with a game-high 20 points to go with four rebounds, game-high/career-high five assists, and a career-high/game-high four blocks.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott is 1-0 in overtime this season, while Eastern Nazarene is 0-1 on the year.
- The Gulls placed four student-athletes in double figures as junior guard Hannah Kiernan (Wenham, Mass.) tied her career high with 18 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, followed by 11 points apiece from senior forward Sarah Hood (Burlington, Mass.) and junior guard Gabriella Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) to join Pratt in double digits.
FOR THE FOES
- The Lions are 6-2 on the road this season.
- Eastern Nazarene won the battle off the glass as the team pulled down 45 rebounds to Endicott’s 38.
- Eastern Nazarene had four student-athletes in double figures as Torio led the way with a team-high 19 points and tied-for-game-high nine rebounds
- Senior guard/forward Jessica Franco (Phoenix, Ariz.) added 13 points off the bench, while freshman forward Amanda Cuervo (Whittier, Calif.) and junior guard Ashley Rendon (La Puente, Calif.) contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.
NOTES
- Endicott is 21-5 all-time and 13-0 at home against Eastern Nazarene dating back prior to the 2002 season.
- The Gulls have won nine of the last 10 meetings against the Lions, including five in a row in head-to-head matchups.
- In the most previous meeting before today, Endicott downed ENC, 71-38, on 12/03/16 in Quincy, Mass.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (8-9, 7-3 CCC) travels to Milton, Mass. to take on host Curry on Wednesday, January 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Eastern Nazarene (11-5, 5-5 CCC) hosts Gordon on Wednesday, January 25 at 5:00 p.m.
NASHUA, N.H. – The Endicott men’s volleyball team fell to No. 1 nationally ranked Springfield and No. 15 Rivier by identical 3-0 scores on Saturday night at Muldoon Gymnasium on the campus of Rivier University.
MATCH ONE: No. 1 Springfield 3, Endicott 0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-12)
Troy Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.), Jeremy Doski (Sandy Hook, Conn.), and Bryn Lipton (Rockford, Ill.) led the way for the Gulls with five kills apiece, while Daniel Toth (Glenwood, N.J.) added three putaways.
Devin Racey (Voorheesville, N.Y.) ran the offense with 11 assists, and Adam Dake (Victor, N.Y.) guided the defense with seven digs.
FOR THE FOES
- Springfield’s offense featured four student-athletes with five kills or more in its lineup headlined by Sergio Figueroa Velez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) who had a match-high seven kills.
- Luis Garcia Rubio (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) dished out a match-high 33 assists.
- The Pride over .500 in every set, including a match-high .556 in set one.
MATCH TWO: No. 15 Rivier 3, Endicott 0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-20)
In a closely contest match that featured 14 tie scores and four lead changes, Rivier pulled out the victory behind its offense, which hit .327 in the match and registered 15 or more kills in each set.
Lipton notched a team-high seven kills, while Riorden and Doski once again had five putaways in their second match of the night. Ryan Sutherland (Fairport, N.Y.), Tim Fieseler (Bridgewater, N.J.) and Toth also chipped in with three kills each.
Racey collected 15 assists in match two, and Chad Riorden (Fairport, N.Y.) had 12 assists, while T. Riorden and Dake tied for the team-high in digs with six. Meanwhile, Toth spearheaded Endicott at the net with two block solos and two block assists.
FOR THE FOES
- Grant Adler (Chicago, Ill.) connected for a match-high 15 kills on 27 swings.
- Ian Wolski (Westfield, Mass.) ranked second on the squad with 11 kills, and Cam Roth (Coventry, R.I.) rounded out the list of student-athletes with double-digit kills with 10 on the night.
- Tyler Blank (Rochester, N.Y.) tallied 41 assists, and Garrett Bucklin (Jamestown, R.I.) had 11 digs.
NOTES
- Springfield (3-1) ranks No. 1 in the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association (AVCA) poll, while Rivier (1-1) is slotted No. 15.
- Rivier fell to Springfield, 3-0, in the middle match of tonight’s tri-match.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (1-4) hosts No. 9 Wentworth this coming Wednesday at 7 PM.
