NORTH SHORE (Results)
Boys Basketball
Lynn Classical 76 Malden 59
Girls Basketball
Greater New Bedford 65 Essex Tech 30
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Salem State Men’s Basketball Wins
SALEM — Shaquan Murray (Boston, MA) led the #2 seed Vikings with 25 points as Salem State defeated the #3 seed Bears of Bridgewater State 72-61 in the semifinal round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Post Season Tournament. Salem State improves to 16-10 on the season as they move on to the championship game, where they will attempt to win their 17th MASCAC Tournament Championship against top seed Fitchburg State University. Bridgewater State ends their season at 13-13.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with a total of 12 lead changes. Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, MA) led the charge for the Bears early on as he tallied 11 points, shooting a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc including a game-tying three-pointer at the 11:10 mark to knot the game at 15-15. However, Shaquan Murray (Boston, MA) matched DeAndrade with 11 points of his own including a fast break layup to answer DeAndrade’s three-pointer to regain the lead for the Vikings, 18-17 lead with 10 minutes on the clock. Salem State mainly looked inside for the majority of their scoring as the scored 18 points in the paint compared to Bridgewater State’s 10. The Bears were active on the offensive glass, bringing down seven offensive boards that they converted into seven points. Shy Davis (Boston, MA) converted a free throw with 2:39 remaining that was the final point of the half which allowed Salem State to take a 29-28 advantage heading into the second half.
Despite the closely matched first half, Salem State opened up the second on a 15-5 run that allowed the home team to gain a 43-33 lead with 15:45 remaining. During that stretch, Davis tallied eight points while Marcus Faison (Cambridge, MA) added three points. After a slow start to the game with only two points and six rebounds, Faison exploded in the second half with 18 rebounds and 16 points. The Bears struggled on offense as they shot only 32.8% from the floor and 35% from beyond the arc. Salem State was marginally better from the outside, but they pounded the ball inside as they did in the first half as they scored 32 points in the paint compared to just 14 from Bridgewater State. The Vikings were able to hold a double-digit lead throughout the the remainder of the game as they dominated on the glass. Salem State grabbed 24 offensive rebounds that were converted into 20 second chance points. Salem State closed out the game shooting only 60% from the line but manage to move on with a 72-61 victory.
Faison finished with an impressive 18 points and 22 rebounds while Davis added 12 points and four rebounds. DeAndrade led the Bears with 19 points while Fawaz Mass (Taunton, MA) contributed with 14 points.
Salem State out-rebounded Bridgewater State 55-36, and won despite shooting just 37.8% from the field, including 22.2% from three-point range.
Salem State will travel to Fitchburg State on Saturday, February 27th to challenge the Falcons for the MASCAC championship at 1:00 p.m. Salem State last appeared in the finals in 2014 and last won the MASCAC championship in 2012.
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Endicott Men’s Basketball Wins
DUDLEY, Mass. – The fourth-seeded Endicott men’s basketball team moved one step closer to defending its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) title on Thursday night with a thrilling 82-80 semifinal round victory over first-seeded Nichols College.
Trailing 79-78 with 1:03 left in the game, Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) put home a two-handed dunk off a pass from Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) to give Endicott a slim 80-79 advantage at the 24-second mark.
Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) eventually followed with a pair of made free throws to push the gap to 82-79 with five seconds remaining, however, the Bison were given a chance to tie the game at the other end moments later when Marcos Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) was fouled on his game-tying three-point bid from the right wing with 0.5-seconds left.
Echevarria buried his first-of-three free throws, but a timeout called by the Endicott bench resulted in a miss on the second attempt, which subsequently put Nichols in a position to miss on purpose on its final free throw shot. Before the Bison took their last free throw, Endicott’s bench used another timeout to situate the Gulls defensively on the block, and it paid off as Sampson hauled in the rebound to lock up the win as time expired.
FIRST HALF
Down 32-29 with 4:07 remaining in the first half, Chris Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) swished a three-pointer from the top of the key that ignited a 15-5 run for the Gulls, and an eventual 44-37 advantage at the break. Motroni also contributed five points during the 15-point spurt, while Walker canned a trey at 2:43 (37-33), and Sampson added a floater in the lane with 59-seconds to go (42-37). Lipscomb went on to cap the run with a layup with 47-seconds to play in the stanza.
Nichols built up a lead as large as eight points (23-15) nearly ten minutes into the contest due in large part to Gustave Koumare’s (Harlem, N.Y.) red-hot shooting. Koumare went 4-for-5 from the field, and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, during the aforementioned stretch before finishing the half with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting (4-for-4 3PT, 1-for-2 FT).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott led by as many as 19 points (71-52) with 10:49 left in the second half, before Nichols orchestrated a 20-1 run to even the score at 72-72 at the 4:12 mark.
- Koumare led the comeback effort with nine points, while Echevarria had five, Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) tallied four, and Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) converted two free throws.
- With tonight’s win, Endicott is 16-9 all-time and 6-6 on the road against Nichols dating back to the 1999-2000 season.
- The Gulls have won the last three playoff meetings versus Nichols.
- Endicott snapped Nichols’ 15-game winning streak.
ENDICOTT HIGHLIGHTS
- Motroni paced the Gulls with 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor, 3-of-6 from long range, and an 8-for-11 showing at the free throw line.
- Motroni, who has scored in double-figures in all 26 games he has appeared in this season, also contributed seven rebounds and two assists to tonight’s victory.
- Sampson notched his 11th double-double of the season by recording 15 points and bringing down 10 rebounds.
- Sampson entered tonight’s game ranked fourth in the CCC in double-doubles.
- Walker moved into fourth place on the Endicott all-time scoring list with 13 points versus Nichols tonight.
- Walker, who surpassed current Endicott assistant coach Lance Greene ’13 on the list, now has 1, 274 career points to his crediting during his career with the program.
- Endicott outscored Nichols, 36-26, in the paint, and 14-6 off turnovers.
- The Gulls’ bench also outscored the Bison, 17-4.
- Drew Sawyer (Norwalk, Conn.) and Taylor Rioux (Ivoryton, Conn.) tied for the team-high in points off the bench with six apiece.
FOR THE FOES
- Koumare tallied a career-high 38 points, including his 1,000th career point, on 14-for-21 shooting (5-for-7 3PT, 2-for-2 FT) to go along with six rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
- Echevarria contributed 18 points and five rebounds, while Eggleston had 10 points, three rebounds, and a pair of assists and steals.
- Nichols tied its program record for wins this season with 23.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (17-10) will play Roger Williams (12-15) in the CCC championship at home this Saturday 2 p.m. Nichols (23-4) now awaits a potential at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, which will be announced this Sunday night.
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Endicott Women’s Basketball Falls
BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Endicott women’s basketball team fell, 66-55, to host University of New England in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Semifinals Thursday night inside Harold Alfond Forum as senior guard Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) paced all scorers with 25 points and nine rebounds in the season-ending loss.
The Nor’easters got on the scoreboard first with an early 2-0 advantage, before Endicott managed to take its only lead of the first half, 5-4, on Cuddy’s three-pointer with 7:16 left in the first quarter.
UNE went on 13-0 run over the next three and a half minutes to hold a 17-5 edge at the 3:47 mark of the first quarter and extended that lead to 25-12 with 3:06 remaining for their largest lead of the first half.
Endicott strung together a 7-0 run of their own as the first quarter closed out down, 25-16 and trailed just 25-19 with 9:40 remaining before halftime.
Sophomore guard Gabriella Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) brought the Gulls to within five (27-22) with a three-pointer with 8:39 to play.
The Gulls were down 37-31 at halftime, but Cuddy led all scorers with 16 points in the first twenty minutes of action.
Endicott came out of the break to produce a strong defensive effort, outscoring UNE, 14-9 in the quarter. Endicott took the lead over UNE, 43-42, on Coppola’s jumper with 5:34 to play in the third quarter as part of a 10-0 run from being down 42-33 at 8:07 to taking the lead at 5:34.
UNE broke nearly a four-minute scoring drought with a bucket at the 1:39 mark of the third quarter to grab the lead back, 44-43.
Sophomore forward Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) made it 45-44 to give Endicott another lead, but UNE closed out the third quarter clinging to a 46-45 edge.
A 5-0 run from the Nor’easters made it 53-47 until the Gulls got a layup-and-one from Cuddy as Endicott was down 53-50 with 5:12 remaining in the game. UNE made it 58-50 with 4:03 to go on junior center Alicia Brown’s (Greenland, N.H.) layup that drew the foul to complete the three-point play.
UNE then grew its lead to 62-52 with 1:11 to play, and H. Shaw nailed a three to bring it to 62-55, but four UNE free throws sealed the deal as the Nor’easters advanced to their fourth straight CCC title game appearance.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The game featured two tied scores and six lead changes.
- The Nor’easters shot 50 percent from the field (14-of-28) in the first half, compared to Endicott’s 35.5 percent (11-of-31).
- Cuddy nailed four three-pointers (tied for a career-high), and her 25 points was god for her second-most this season, three shy of tying her career-high of 28 points against Curry on Jan. 5, 2016 in Milton, Mass.
- Cuddy has 10 games this season with 20+ points (three consecutive), including all three games against UNE, and #22 games in double figures.
- Cuddy’s 1,233 career points ranks seventh in the all-time program scoring history.
- The Gulls placed two student-athletes in double figures, as Coppola tallied 10 points ot join Cuddy, while UNE landed three.
- UNE out-rebouded the Gulls, 40-31.
- The Gulls limited the Nor’easters to nine points in the third quarter.
FOR THE FOES
- The Nor’easters shot 50 percent from the field in the first half.
- Brown paced the Nor’easters’ scoring attack with 17 points, seven rebounds, one assists, two blocks, and a game-high five steals.
- UNE placed two more student-athletes in double figures as senior guard Alanna Vose (Cushing, Maine) chipped in 15 points and a team-high eight boards, while senior guard Sadie DiPierro (South Portland, Maine) added 10 points.
- The Nor’easters are on a 19-game win streak.
- The University of New England women’s basketball team has remained at 3rd of 81 teams in the Northeast Region, as the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship Committee released its final set of regional rankings on Wednesday (Feb. 24).
- The team also has a national ranking presence with the No. 16 spot in the latest Top 25 D3hoops.com poll and No. 14 in WBCA Coaches Poll announced this week.
NOTES
- Endicott is 12-24 all-time and 5-15 on the road at UNE dating back prior to the 2002 season.
- The Gulls and Nor’easters met twice in the regular season, as the top-seeded and nationally-ranked Nor’easters took both regular-season meetings versus Endicott—65-57 in Beverly, Mass. on Jan. 19 and 62-54 in Biddeford, Maine, on Feb. 10.
- UNE has won the last nine of 11 meetings between the two teams.
- Endicott and UNE will squared off again the CCC Semifinals for the fourth time in the past seven years, as the Gulls own a 2-1 record in recent history dating back to 2009. Endicott won back-to-back meetings in the CCC Semifinals; 78-67 on Feb. 26, 2009 at home and 53-49 on the road on Feb. 23, 2012, before falling 69-48 in the most recent postseason tilt in Biddeford, Maine on Feb. 21, 2013.
WHAT’S NEXT
No. 4 Endicott (16-11) sees its season come to an end, while the No. 1 University of New England (24-3) will play Western New England in the CCC Championship on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 as they go for their fourth straight CCC title.
2016 CCC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals • Tuesday, February 23
#1 University of New England 101, #8 Nichols 35
#2 Western New England 60, #7 Salve Regina 51
#3 Roger Williams 71, #6 Eastern Nazarene 57
#4 Endicott 68, #5 Curry 66
Semifinals • Thursday, February 25
#1 University of New England 66 vs. #4 Endicott 55
#2 Western New England vs. #3 Roger Williams (at higher seed)
Championship Game • Saturday, February 27
#1 University of New England vs. #2 Western New England, 1:00 p.m.
