BIDDEFORD, Maine -- The Endicott College Gulls closed the game with a 16-3 run to take a 71-59 Commonwealth Coast Conference victory over the University of New England on Saturday (Dec. 6) at the Harold Alfond Forum.

The Gulls pushed their record over the .500 mark to 3-2 (1-1 CCC), while the Nor'easters fell to 1-6 overall, 0-2 in conference play.

Sophomore Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) poured in 27 points to lead all scorers. He was 8 of 14 from the floor, including a 4-for-6 performance from three-point land, and made 7 of 8 free throw attempts. Walker added six rebounds and four assists.

Senior Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.) scored 11 of his 13 points before halftime for the Gulls, who received nine points from sophomore Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.).

Junior Devin Thompson (Lynn, Mass.) tallied 18 points, five steals and four assists to lead the way for UNE. First-year Evrim Ozkan (Istanbul, Turkey) contributed 12 points and CJ Autry (Standish, Maine) matched his career high with 11. Autry made all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.

The contest was tight the entire way until Endicott slowly pulled away late. Trailing 56-55 on a Thompson free throw with 6:15 on the clock, the Gulls would tally the next five points to grab the lead for good. Walker made a layup, then Motroni drilled a three-pointer to make the score 60-56 in favor of the visitors.

After Thompson converted 1 of 2 at the line, Motroni had a bucket on a drive to the hoop and a trey on the Gulls' next possession to push their margin to seven (64-57) with 1:32 remaining.

UNE missed a pair of field goal tries and two attempts at the line on its next trip up the floor before Endicott sophomore Steven Baden (Lynn, Mass.) put the game out of reach with a layup at the 1:00 mark.

The stat sheet was relatively even. The Gulls shot 41.1 percent (23 of 56) compared to UNE's 36.8 percent accuracy (21 of 57). Endicott also had a slight edge on the boards (40-35) but two more turnovers (17-15).

The Nor'easters had led 35-32 at halftime as Thompson scored 14 points and came up with five steals.

Endicott will play another CCC tilt Tuesday when it travels to Eastern Nazarene College for a 7 p.m. start. The Nor'easters are off until Jan. 2-3 when they take part in the Wesleyan University Red and Black Holiday Tournament.