BEVERY – The No. 24 nationally ranked Endicott men’s basketball team only trailed Curry College for 6:42 of play on Wednesday night before the Gulls pulled away for an eventual 85-56 conference win inside MacDonald Gymnasium.
Senior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) paced Endicott with 17 points (5-13 FG, 4-9 3PT, 3-4 FT) and six rebounds (one offensive), while Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) and Vinny Clifford (Danvers, Mass.) added nine points apiece. Stephen Basden (Lynn, Mass.) also chipped in with seven points, seven boards, and two assists in the victory.
Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) and Rob O’Brien (Rindge, N.H.) rounded out the list of highlights for the Gulls as Motroni compiled seven points, five assists, and three rebounds, while O’Brien had seven points, six boards, two assists, and a block.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott is 20-13 in the all-time series versus Curry.
- Chris Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) notched a career-high three blocks to go along with four points, a game-high nine rebounds (one shy of his career-high), and one assist.
- The Gulls capitalized on turnovers, outscoring Curry 14-8 in that category.
- Endicott also held a 20-12 margin in second chance points.
- The Gulls out-rebounded Curry, 53-44, marking their second consecutive win when winning that matchup.
- Endicott has now held two opponents to under 60 points this season (Anna Maria – 56 | Curry – 56).
FOR THE FOES
- James Pina (Warwick, R.I.) led all scorers with 18 points (6-17 FG, 0-1 3PT, 6-6 FT), eight rebounds, and one block, assist, and steal.
- Paul Preziosi (Quincy, Mass.) was second on the team in scoring with 14 points (5-9 FG, 1-4 3PT, 3-5 FT), and also hauled in four caroms, and registered a block.
- Curry held a 28-12 advantage in points in the paint.
- The Colonels have now lost 30 straight games.
- Their last win came against Salve Regina, 84-80 in overtime, on February 21, 2015.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (3-1, 1-0 CCC) travels to Eastern Nazarene for a conference clash at 3 p.m. Curry (0-5, 0-1 CCC) visits Roger Williams this Saturday in a league matchup at 3 p.m.
BEVERLY — Junior forward Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) lifted the Endicott women’s basketball team to a come-from-behind victory against the Curry College Colonels, 55-54, to begin Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play in the home opener Wednesday night inside MacDonald Gymnasium.
Curry jumped out to a 6-0 lead and led throughout the entirety of the first half, building a lead as large as 16 with 2:02 remaining before the break and went into halftime up, 34-21.
Endicott battled back to outscore Curry, 22-6, in the third quarter as the Gulls grabbed their first lead of the night, 38-36 on Shaw’s jumper with 4:44 left in the quarter.
Four tied scores and back-and-forth action in the fourth quarter was finally broken up by Endicott as the Gulls took the lead for good at 55-53 on freshman guard Emily Pratt‘s (Gardner, Mass.) jump shot at the 3:10 mark.
Shaw led the Gulls with a team-high 18 points and team-high eight rebounds, while sophomore guard Emily Irwin (Billerica, Mass.) scored a game-high 25 points for Curry.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The game featured six ties and three lead changes.
- The Gulls placed three student-athletes in double figures as senior forward Sarah Hood (Burlington, Mass.) and Pratt added 10 points apiece to join Shaw in double digits.
- 10 points is a new career-high for Pratt.
- Endicott registered a season-high 16 steals as Shaw tied the single-game program record with nine swipes, joining Kelsey Cuddy ’16 and Ashley Wright ’11 in the record books.
FOR THE FOES
- The Colonels had two double-digit scorers as junior center Nicole Rice (Woburn, Mass.) chipped in 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds to join Irwin in double figures.
- Curry out-rebounded the Gulls, 39-34.
- The Colonels led by as much as 16 with 2:02 remaining in the first half on Irwin’s layup.
NOTES
- Endicott and Curry met the 30th time in program history tonight as the Gulls lead the all-time series, 24-6, dating back prior to the 2002 season.
- Endicott is 14-1 at home versus the Colonels.
- The Gulls swept last season’s regular-season series, 77-62 (01/05/16) and 65-42 (02/02/16).
- Endicott defeated Curry, 68-66, in the CCC Quarterfinals in the most recent meeting before today.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (2-3, 1-0 CCC) travels to Quincy, Mass. to take on Eastern Nazarene in CCC play on Saturday, December 3 at 1:00 p.m.
Curry (2-4, 0-1 CCC) goes on the road at Fitchburg St. on Thursday, December 1 at 7:00 p.m.
