BIDDEFORD, Maine – Sophomore guard John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) recorded his fifth game of the season with at least 20 points, scoring a game-high 25 points, and the Endicott men's basketball erased a 12-point second-half deficit but the Gulls lost 60-59 on the road to the University of New England to fall to 9-14 (4-12 CCC) with two games remaining on the 2012-13 schedule.
Those two games will be played at home starting with a Thursday night showdown with Curry starting at 7:30 pm in MacDonald Gymnasium before hosting Eastern Nazarene for Senior Day on Saturday, February 16th at 3:00 pm in the regular season finale. The Blue and Green will need to win both of their final two games and get some help from other conference games to avoid missing the CCC playoffs.
Henault was Endicott's lone player in double figures as his game-high 25 points came off 9-of-16 shooting from the floor including 3-of-7 from three-point range and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line. Henault has not missed a free throw since January 10th, has a streak of 31 consecutive free throw makes, and has a 93.8% at the line.
Twelve of Henault's 25 points came in the second half and the Gulls as a team converted seven UNE turnovers in the period to mount a comeback down by double digits. Senior guard Lance Greene (Dorchester, Mass.) had three steals and three of his four assists in the second half alone to lead the charge.
Trailing by just four at 43-59 following a three-pointer by Nor'easters senior guard Chris Ouellette (East Millinocket, Maine), Greene stole a sideline inbound pass and pushed the ball up to Henault who drew a foul and hit two free throws to pull within two. A missed jumper down the other end by UNE led to another fast-break opportunity for Henault who went to the rim for two to tie the game at 43-43 with 10:23 remaining.
Two more free throws and a jumper by Henault capped off an 8-0 run by the Gulls which put them in the lead at 47-43, their largest advantage of the game. Endicott's lead was short-lived, however, as UNE replied with a 5-0 run of their own to regain the lead after an open fast-break layup by senior Joseph Dadiego (Westbrook, Maine).
Endicott would tie the score at 50 after a three-point make by junior Bennett Knowlton (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and against at 54 on a floater in the lane by Greene, but UNE prevailed down the stretch as a three-pointer by first year guard Devin Thompson (Winthrop, Mass.) and a jumper by senior Alex Alsadi (Scottsdale, Ariz.) sealed Endicott's two regular season loss to the Nor'easters this season.
Jesse Dykstra (Douglas, Mass.) led the home team with 15 points, 10 boards, four assists, three blocks and a steal. Thompson and Ouellette added 13 and 10 points, respectively, in starting roles.
Junior Lachlan Magee (Melbourne, Australia) and sophomore Matt Kneece (Shrewsbury, Mass.) both scored seven points while combining for 14 boards. The Gulls held a slim rebounding edge over UNE at 40-35.