Endicott Men’s Basketball Opens League Tourney with 110-64 Win Over Salve – Women Fall in Their Game To Eastern Nazarene

BEVERLY — The second-seeded Endicott men’s basketball team was firing on all cylinders in the Gulls’ 110-64 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Quarterfinals victory over visiting seventh-seeded Salve Regina University Tuesday night inside a rocking MacDonald Gymnasium.

Senior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) led the Gulls with 18 of the team’s season-high point total, while senior forward Chris Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) recorded his first double-double of the year (second career) with 13 points and a team-best eight boards, four assists, four steals, and one block on the night.

Salve Regina scored the opening bucket, but it was all Endicott the rest of the way as the hosts led 45-25 at the half and set a new season-best with 65 points in the second half.

The Gulls won their fourth straight game and are now on to the CCC Semifinals for the third year in a row.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

Endicott was two points shy of tying the program’s record for most points scored in a single game, as 110 is now the second-most ever. 112 is the record set on March 5, 2014 against Castleton.
Endicott now has three games reaching triple digits this season (100 vs. Curry on 01/25/17 and 101 vs. Roger Williams on 02/11/17).
Endicott made 16 three-pointers, which is the third-highest total ever in a single game for the Gulls.
Freshman guard Keith Brown (Pelham, N.H.) netted 11 points and senior guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) and sophomore guard Vinny Clifford (Danvers, Mass.) each tallied 10 points apiece to round out the five Gulls in double figures.
Endicott was up by as much as 46 points with 2:26 remaining in the game.
The Gulls are 11-1 overall and 10-0 against conference opponents on the home hardwood this season.
The Gulls came into the game earning 31 votes in the D3hoops.com Week 12 Top 25 National Poll.

FOR THE FOES

The Seahawks have now lost five games in a row.
Senior forward Nicholas Bates (Danvers, Mass.) paces the team with 16 double-doubles on the year as he finished with a game-high 20 points and a game-best 12 rebounds in what was likely the final game of his career.
Sophomore guard Isaiah Bowman (Roxbury, Mass.) added 18 points, while the Seahawks’ season scoring leader in junior Rodney Morton (Malden, Mass.) chipped in 15 points to join Bates and Bowman in double figures.

NOTES

Endicott is 21-14 overall and 14-3 at home against the Seahawks in the all-time series.
The Gulls have won six of the past seven meetings, including a 82-66 win earlier this season on Jan. 11, 2017 and 79-44 win on February 14th to earn the regular-season series sweep.

WHAT’S NEXT

No. 2 Endicott (21-5) advances to the conference semifinals on Thursday, February 23rd and will face No. 6 Eastern Nazarene at a time to be determined.

No. 7 Salve Regina (8-17) sees its season come to a close. $website.include(“rich-footer”)

2017 CCC Men’s Basketball Tournament

Tournament Schedule

(Games hosted by the higher seed)

Quarterfinals – Tuesday, Feb. 21

#1 Nichols 89, #8 University of New England 71

#2 Endicott 110, #7 Salve Regina 64

#6 Eastern Nazarene 83, #3 Roger Williams 78

#5 Wentworth 82, #4 Gordon 75

Semifinals – Thursday, Feb. 23

#1 Nichols vs. #5 Wentworth, TBA

#2 Endicott vs. #6 Eastern Nazarene, TBA

Finals – Saturday, Feb. 25

BEVERLY — The fourth-seeded Endicott women’s basketball team fell to fifth-seeded Eastern Nazarene, 70-61, Tuesday night inside MacDonald Gymnasium in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Quarterfinal action.

Facing each other for the third time this season, it was junior guard Jaysa Cooper’s (Frisco, Texas) charm with a game-high 20 points off the bench to lead four Lions in double figures.

It was back-and-forth basketball in the early stages of the game until the Gulls were able to create some slight separation with a five-point margin with 7:58 remaining before the half and clung a 28-27 lead at the break.

A sizzling third quarter turned the tides as Eastern Nazarene clawed its way back to grab a 35-33 edge at the 4:56 mark never to be relinquish. Cooper tallied 12 points in the stanza on a perfect 5-for-5 effort from the floor and 2-for-2 at the free throw line to lead the offensive assault.

Fans were treated to a fourth-quarter shootout as the teams combined for 44 points in the fourth quarter alone with the Lions pulling off their first playoff victory in recent history.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

This quarterfinal matchup featured six tied scores and 10 lead changes.
Junior guard Gabriella Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) scored a team-best 16 points alongside her six boards, game-high five assists, game-high four steals, and career-high three blocks.
All-CCC First Team junior forward Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to go with 14 points, four assists, and one steal.
All-CCC Third Team junior guard Hannah Kiernan (Wenham, Mass.) also chipped in 14 points, two rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Playing in her final collegiate game, senior forward Sarah Hood (Burlington, Mass.) chipped in eight points, four rebounds, one steal, and one block.
Coming into the game, the Gulls made their 15th straight playoff appearance as winners of four of the past five games and failed to advance to the CCC Semifinals for the first time since the 2010-11 season (the season before Coach Hutchinson arrived on campus).
Endicott head coach Brittany Hutchinson is one win shy of her 100th career victory.

FOR THE FOES

In their third straight playoff appearance and fifth in the past six years, the Lions earned their first victory behind double-digit scoring efforts from senior guard Breanna Fraser (Henderson, Nev.), junior guard Ashley Rendon (La Puente, Calif.), and junior guard/forward Shelby Holmes (Seeley Lake, Mont.) to join Cooper in the double-digit scoring column.
Junior guard Kayla Torio (Manteca, Calif.) grabbed a game-best 12 rebounds as the Lions outrebounded Endicott, 41-32.
The Lions outscored the Gulls in every quarter except the second.
ENC led by as much as 14 with 7:52 remaining in the game.

NOTES

Endicott is 21-6 all-time and 13-1 at home against Eastern Nazarene dating back prior to the 2002 season.
The Gulls have still won nine of the last 11 matchups against the Lions, including five in a row before the loss tonight.
The Gulls swept Lions in the regular-season series, 71-38 on Dec. 3, 2016 and 78-73 (OT) on Jan. 21, 2017.

WHAT’S NEXT

No. 4 Endicott (13-13) sees its season come to an end, while No. 5 Eastern Nazarene (18-8) advances to the conference semifinals on Thursday, February 23rd and will face the winner of #1 University of New England and #8 Gordon.