MILTON, Mass. – Fueled by freshman guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.), who scored nine of his team-high 19 points in the final 49 seconds of the second half including a go-ahead jumper to break a 77-77 tie, the Endicott men's basketball team won their seventh straight game by a score of 86-82 over CCC defending champions Curry on the road.
Endicott (11-2, 5-1 CCC) led for the majority of the game until Curry battled back in the second half to take their first lead at 66-65 with 7:41 remaining in the game. The Colonels went up by six, at 75-69, before Motroni and junior guard John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) sparked the Gulls offense down the stretch.
A pair of free throw makes by Motroni and Henault pulled the Blue and Green within two and Henault tied the game at 75 with just 2:24 to go. Curry responded with a layup by senior guard Lambros Papalambros (Quincy, Mass.), two of his 19 points, to regain the lead. Henault, however, tied the game again off an assist from fellow junior Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.).
With the game tied 77-77 and under a minute left on the clock, Motroni stepped up and hit a go-ahead jumper to put the pressure back on the home team. The rebound off a missed Curry layup fell in the hands of freshman guard Chris Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.), one of his three boards in the final minute, which led to more free throws down the other end for Motroni as the Gulls were in the bonus. Motroni would hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final 30 seconds to squash any hopes of a Curry comeback.
Motroni scored 19 points in 21 minutes off the bench on 4-of-7 shooting and 11-of-14 at the free throw line. Makris, Henault, and senior guard Greg Jacques (Brockton, Mass.) all reached double figures with 16, 15, and 11 points, respectively. Makris and Henault each added four rebounds with multi-assist games. On the glass, Endicott was led by freshman forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) who had eight caroms to go along with five points, an assist, a steal, and a block.
Curry's (2-9, 1-5 CCC) offensive was paced by a game-high 22 points from junior guard Antonio Jones (Dorchester, Mass.) who was near perfect at the free throw line with 10-of-11 makes. Papalambros was an efficient 7-of-13 from the field and led all players with nine rebounds.
Endicott finished the week 3-0 in conference play with wins over Salve Regina, Roger Williams, and Curry. The Gulls will look to continue their recent success on Wednesday, January 15th at home against Nichols (8-4, 5-1 CCC). The Bison defeated University of New England 77-57 on the road Saturday and will play Westfield State before taking on Endicott. Endicott and Nichols sit atop the CCC standings with a 5-1 league record.