BEVERLY, MA - Junior Kyle Pierce (Burlington, MA/Burlington), who set a school record with 12 assists, hit four free throws in the final 10 seconds to pull the Wheelock College men's basketball team away from Endicott College during a 73-68 victory on Thursday at MacDonald Gymnasium. The Wildcats snapped a three-game losing streak in moving to 2-3, as three of their contests have been decided by seven points or less. The Gulls are now 3-2.
Pierce recorded nine of his helpers by halftime, at which point he had already surpassed the four-year-old program's record. He finished with eight points and six boards while committing only one turnover. Junior Eric Rice (Woburn, MA/Woburn) scored a game-high 22 points, coming within one of his career high, and grabbed six rebounds.
Senior Daniel Main (Hopedale, MA/Hopedale) neared a double-double with 14 points and nine boards while shooting 3-for-5 from three-point range, and sophomore Bashir Hudson (Jamaica Plain, MA/Weston) snared a career-best 11 rebounds while blocking a pair of shots off the bench. Junior Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Cypress Bay) added nine points. Wheelock committed only 11 turnovers while holding Endicott to 7-of-33 three-point shooting.
Gull freshman Lachlan Magee (Melbourne, Australia/Salisbury Prep) had 21 points, while junior reserve Erik Callo (Southington, CT/Marianapolis Prep) totaled 13 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks. Sophomore Lance Greene (Dorchester, MA/Lexington) notched 13 points, nine caroms and five assists.
During a game in which the lead changed hands 12 times and the teams played through nine ties, neither side led by more than seven points. Wheelock forged an advantage by that margin at 17:24 of the opening half, as Rice netted six straight Wildcat points in putting his team on top, 9-2. Endicott used a 10-2 run to wipe out its deficit, vaulting ahead for the first time at 16-15 on a three-pointer at 12:15. Neither team again led by more than five. Late in the period, Pierce converted a three-point play before feeding Main for a tying hoop at 1:05, but Magee's three with five ticks left gave the hosts a 41-38 halftime edge.
Six Rice points keyed an 8-0 run that allowed the Wildcats to inch ahead, 50-45, by 13:28 of the final stanza, but Endicott pulled back in front, 54-53, on a Magee trey at 8:37. Main's triple capped a 7-0 Wheelock run, giving the visitors a four-point edge with 4:35 left, but Magee scored in transition to shift the lead in favor of the Gulls, 65-64, at 3:11.
In the final three minutes, Kaim knocked down a jumper to make it 66-65 before Greene hit a tying free throw at 2:16, but Rice converted Pierce's final assist at 1:10 by nailing a go-ahead jumper, giving Wheelock the last lead of the game. Endicott missed a pair of tying shots while down by two and was only able to get as close as 69-68 thanks to two Greene free throws with 12 seconds left. After Pierce hit a pair of freebies with 10 seconds left, the Gulls were forced to foul following a turnover, and Pierce buried two more free throws at the five-second mark to complete the scoring.
Wheelock breaks until Tuesday, when it opens its New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) slate by hosting Southern Vermont College at 7:15 p.m.