Endicott Pulls Away from Men's Basketball

BEVERLY, Mass. – Marcus Montagnino led a trio of Endicott College men's basketball student-athlete ins double figures as he scored 24 points to lead the Gulls past Wentworth Institute of Technology, 73-58, in Conference of New England play on Saturday afternoon.

With the win the Gulls improve to 13-6 overall and 10-2 in CNE play, while the Leopards fall to 6-13, 4-7

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Trailing 2-0 early in the contest, Wentworth went on a 14-0 run and took a 14-2 lead after a Tyler Stewart made jumper with 13:44 left in the opening frame. Stewart had eight points during the run. Endicott countered with a 12-2 run of its own, making it 16-14 after an Elijah Kinney layup three and a half minutes later.
• The Leopards extended their lead to 19-14 after Niko Rosich made one of two free throws with 9:33 left before the Gulls used a 7-0 run, taking a 21-19 lead on a Parker McLaren jumper. Wentworth regained the lead after Nathan Brinkman buried a three with 4:59 left, making it 24-23, and Jack Connell followed with a three of his own 30 seconds later, pushing the lead to four (27-23).
• Kinney made a pair of field goals and Montagnino made a layup with 2:45 left, giving the hosts a 29-27 lead. Nathaniel Smith followed with a jumper to even the score at 29-all before Montagnino knocked down a three to put Endicott ahead, 32-29. A pair of free throws from Niko Rosich with six seconds left brought the Black & Gold to within one at the break.
• Kinney opened the second half with a jumper, pushing the Gulls' lead to 34-31, however, the Leopards countered with a 7-2 run and led, 41-36, after a Connell layup with 6:05 left. Endicott knocked the lead down to one before Connel's jumper with 13:27 left made it 43-40. A three-point play from Montagnino tied the game at 43-all and three straight points from Matt Boen gave Endicott a 46-43 lead.
• Connell knocked down a jumper with 9:23 left to give Wentworth a 49-48 lead but an 18-7 run over the next six-plus minutes gave the hosts a 66-56 lead after McLaren hit a three with 3:17 left.
• In addition to Montagnino, who also had nine rebounds, Kinney had 16 points and eight rebounds, while McLaren added 12 points.
• Connell scored 18 points to lead the Leopards, with Stewart adding 15 points and five assists. Brinkman chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds.

ALL-TIME SERIES:

• Today was the 50th all-time meeting between the two teams.

NEXT UP:

• Wentworth is at Curry on Wednesday.

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