Walker, Gulls trump UNE in overtime, 103-95

More news about: University of New England
BEVERLY, Mass. -- First-year guard Kamahl Walker converted three free throws in the waning seconds of regulation to force overtime, then tallied the initial eight points of the extra session, as Endicott College posted a 103-95 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball victory over the University of New England on Saturday (Jan. 4) at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Winners of four straight, the Gulls improve to 8-2 overall (2-1 CCC). The Nor'easters drop back to 1-9 on the year, 1-2 in league play.

John Henault paced Endicott with 22 points and Walker finished with 19 off the bench -- 16 of which came in the final 7:29 of action. Reserves Tell White and Andre Makris each added 13 points, while Daquan Sampson went for 10 points and a game-best nine rebounds. Greg Jacques dished out eight assists for the hosts, who shot 48.5 percent (33 for 68) in the contest.

The Nor'easters received a season-high 26 points and eight rebounds from first-year Brayden Morse, before fouling out in the early stages of overtime. Morse went 6-for-9 from three-point land, leading Big Blue to an 18-of-35 showing from long distance.

First-year Justin Pollard totaled 19 points, senior Kurt Steiner chipped in with a season-best 15 to go with five assists, and sophomore Devin Thompson recorded 14 points for UNE. The three combined for 10 makes from deep.

The Gulls started fast, getting out to a 23-9 cushion with 6:26 gone. Eight different players scored during the stretch.

The margin was still 14 (36-22) inside five minutes to play in the half, after a trey from Walker, when Big Blue assembled a 14-4 spurt in 3:14 to reel Endicott back in. Morse had eight in the span.

Coming out of the halftime break with a 42-37 edge, Endicott slowly worked its lead up to 16 (66-50) over the opening eight minutes of the period, and the margin was still in double digits (76-66) with 7:31 left in regulation.

But the Nor'easters would not go away, as a 13-2 run gave UNE just its second lead of the day (since 7-6). Morse framed the stretch with triples, while sophomore Russ Daly notched five of his seven points in between.

Endicott's Max Motroni and Morse traded three-pointers, and after Daly scored again, Walker brought the Gulls back even (84-84) at the 2:29 mark.

Lay-ups by Pollard and Thompson on consecutive possessions put UNE ahead by four (88-84) with 85 seconds left on the clock. The difference was trimmed to three when White made the second of two free throws for the Gulls, and following a Big Blue turnover, Walker was fouled attempting a trey and stepped to the line to tie things up.

As Walker gained the momentum for Endicott in extra stanza with 3-of-3 field goals and a pair of free throws, the Nor'easters went cold, coming up empty on their first five trips down the court in overtime.

Both squads get back to work on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) at home, as the Gulls host Salve Regina University and UNE welcomes in Wentworth Institute of Technology.