BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) and freshman Keith Brown (Pelham, N.H.) each scored 11 of their team-high 17 points in the second half as the Endicott College men's basketball team picked up its third straight win with a 67-61 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Gulls improve to 15-4 overall and 10-2 in CCC play while the Leopards sit at 8-11 (6-6) after the setback.
Wentworth began the game strong, scoring the first seven points as senior Dan DeVaux (Wethersfield, Conn.) hit a three and junior Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) hit a pair of baskets. Senior Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) hit a three and Sampson followed with a layup to make it 7-5. Junior Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) and Ganley pushed the lead back to six with just under 16 minutes remaining.
Endicott made it 13-11 on one of two free throws from Brown but a Ganley layup and three pointer from Kizel made it 18-11 with 9:26 left. A 6-0 spurt, which was capped off by a layup from senior Chris Lipscomb West Springfield, Mass.), made it 20-18 but DeVaux followed with five straight points to give the Back & Gold a seven-point lead.
Six straight Endicott points, including a jumper in transition from Brown, narrowed the gap to one (25-24) with just over a minute left. The Gulls had the ball for one shot at the end of the half, however Knollmeyer stole the ball from Motroni but his layup rimmed out at the buzzer keeping the Leopards' lead at one at the break.
Senior Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) gave Endicott a 26-25 lead to open the second half but Wentworth quickly regained the lead with seven straight points, capped off by a freshman Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) jumper. The Gulls responded with a 15-0 run and took a 41-32 lead on a three from Walker.
A three-point play from junior Cesar Fulcar (Watertown, Mass.) brought the lead down to six but Brown answered with a three to make it 44-35 with 13:15 left.
Wentworth chipped away at the lead and made it a five-point game on one of two free throws from junior Michael Boaheng (Worcester, Mass.) with 9:16 left. The Gulls brought the lead to 10 on two occasions, however a DeVaux jumper made it 55-50 with 3:52 left.
Endicott built its lead to 11 on one of two free throws from Walker with 50 seconds left, which capped off an 8-2 spurt.
In addition to Sampson and Brown scoring 17 points, Walker had 14 points.
DeVaux led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including hitting five from behind the arc. Ganley added 16 points and three assists while Kizel had 12 points and five assists. The Leopards had a 42-26 rebounding advantage on the day.
Both teams are in action on Tuesday as Wentworth hosts Eastern Nazarene and Endicott hosts the University of New England.
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