BEVERLY, Mass. – Junior Keith Brown (Pelham, N.H.) led four players in double figures to help pace the Endicott College men's basketball team to an 86-64 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Gulls improve to 15-6 overall and 8-4 in CCC play while the leopards fall to 6-15 (4-9).
Endicott raced out to an early, 15-4 lead after sophomore Matt McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) knocked down a three with 15:20 left in the opening half. Using an 8-2 run, Wentworth closed the gap to five after junior Matt Vartanian (Salem, N.H.) made a layup with 12:48 left. After brown made a jumper to push the lead to seven, the Black & Gold used a 10-2 run, taking a 22-21 lead on a sophomore Gavin Keough (Dunstable, Mass.) three pointer.
After freshman Noah Bice (Woodacre, Calif.) gave Wentworth the lead back, the Gulls outscored the Leopards 26-9 and took a 49-33 on a three from Brown with 142 left. Bice followed with a jumper before senior Nick Thibeault (Gorham, Maine) finished the half with a dunk, making it 51-35 at the break.
Endicott extended its lead to as many as 29 (70-41) with 14:02 after junior Matthew Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) hit a three. Wentworth came back with a 9-0 run and closed the gap to 20 after a junior Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) layup with 10:35 left. The Gulls built their lead back to as many as 28 with 5:51 remaining, which would be their last basket of the game as the Leopards held the hosts scoreless for the remainder of the contest.
Brown connected on 10-of16 shots in the win while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists. Thibeault and McDevitt each scored 16 points while sophomore Jordan Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) added 11 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Sophomore Kyle Henseler (Coventry, R.I.) led Wentworth with 16 points to go along with five rebounds. Azums added 12 points, a game-high eight rebounds, and four assists. Vartanian tied Azums for the game high in rebounds with eight.
Wentworth plays its final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday when the Leopards travel to Rivier for the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
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