BEVERLY, Mass. – In their third consecutive home conference game of the week, the Endicott men's basketball team raced out to a 17-3 lead over Curry and never looked back as the Gulls won 82-59 on Saturday afternoon in MacDonald Gymnasium. Now 9-4 (5-1 CCC), Endicott has now won five straight league games and seven of their last nine overall.
Sophomore guard Drew Sawyer (Norwalk, Conn.) came off the bench to tie his season-high of 17 points and lead all Endicott players. After jumping out to a 9-0 lead, Sawyer scored the final eight points of the opening 17-3 run on a pair of three-point makes and a jumper. He finished the game by making 7-of-9 attempts from the floor including 3-of-5 three-point attempts, dished out four assists, and registered a steal.
For the second straight game and the fourth time this season, sophomore forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive glass, and sophomore guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) had at least seven rebounds in back-to-back games as he grabbed eight caroms to go along with 14 points. Endicott outrebounded Curry 42-37 in the win as guards John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) and Stephen Basden (Lynn, Mass.) were among the team's rebounder leaders with six and five boards, respectively.
Motroni was also one of six Endicott players to record multiple assists as he tallied three dimes. Henault also had three assists with Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.), Tell White (New Castle, N.H.), and Basden all adding two apiece.
Curry's offense was led by the CCC's second leading scorer, senior guard Antonio Jones (Dorchester, Mass.) who poured in a game-high 19 points with three rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Jones was complemented by 13 points from junior guard Danny Brooks (Boston, Mass.), eight off the bench by sophomore forward Tasos Filippou (Athens, Greece), and six apiece in starting roles from senior forward Matt Russell (South Portland, Maine) and sophomore forward James Pina (Warwick, R.I.).
Endicott raised their early first half lead to a 45-21 advantage at halftime as the Gulls shot 50% from the floor and Sawyer (12 points) and Motroni (11 points) already in double figures. In the second half, Endicott maintained their high-octane pace and built their largest lead of 28 points (74-46) by the 6:52 mark of the period. Makris scored eight of his 11 points in the second half, knocking down 3-of-4 shots including two three-pointers.
The Gulls will next meet last season's regular season champions and CCC finalist Nichols (8-4, 5-0 CCC) on Thursday, January 15th for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off in Dudley, Massachusetts. Curry (2-11, 0-6 CCC) takes their eight-game losing streak into a home game versus conference opponent Roger Williams (4-8, 2-3 CCC) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (Recap courtesy of Endicott Sports Information)
