BEVERLY, Mass. – The No. 20 nationally ranked Endicott men's basketball team never trailed against Salem State University on Thursday night inside MacDonald Gymnasium en route to its 82-64 victory over the Vikings.

Seniors Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.), Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.), and Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) all scored in double-figures to lead the way for the Gulls. Motroni paced the trio with 20 points (8-13 FG, 3-6 3PT, 1-1 FT), while Walker compiled 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Sampson rounded out the group with 14 points (5-10 FG, 2-3 3PT, 2-2 FT), six boards, and one block.

Chris Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) also turned in an all-around game with eight points, a game-high 12 rebounds, three assists, and one steal.

The win for Endicott only seemed in doubt once during the entire matchup as Salem State erased an early 11-point deficit (13-2, 16:00) in the first half to draw the game even at 19-19 at 10:26 of the stanza. The Gulls then used a 26-9 run throughout the remainder of the half – which was spearheaded by Motroni (9 pts) and Sampson (7 pts) – to put the clamps on a Vikings' potential upset the rest of the way.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott is 3-0 in the all-time series against Salem State.
• The Gulls have now won five games in a row.
• Both teams combined for 73 points in each half (45/37 EC | 28/36 SSU).
• Motroni has now scored 20 or more points in three straight games.
• Endicott shot 52.9% (18-34) in the first half, 44.1% (15-34) in the second half, and 48.5% (33-68) in the game.
• The Gulls led by as many as 22 points with 11:22 in the second half.

FOR THE FOES

• Shaquan Murray (Boston, Mass.) led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting (1-for-2 3PT, 6-6 FT), alongside four rebounds, three assists, and one block.
• Junior sharpshooter Jacob Lindland (Hamilton, Mass.) buried five treys, and two free throws, to finish with 17 points on the night.
• Drew Healy (Lowell, Mass.) chipped in with eight points, three rebounds, and two assists.
• Marcus Faison (Cambridge, Mass.) also collected five points, eight rebounds, one assist, and a block.

NOTES

• Endicott is ranked No. 20 in the D3hoops.com National Top-25 Poll, up four spots from its first-ever national ranking of No. 20 last week.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 20 Endicott (6-1) hosts non-conference Bridgewater State University this Saturday at 1 p.m. Salem State (4-4) welcomes Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to its campus on Saturday at 1 p.m.