BEVERLY, Mass. -- Endicott College out-scored the University of New England by 23 after halftime en route to an 81-53 victory in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's basketball action Tuesday evening (Jan. 31) at MacDonald Gymnasium.

The Nor'easters registered the opening basket of the 2nd to close within three (35-32), but the Gulls had a double-digit cushion (45-35) by the 15:37 mark. A 20-4 stretch soon followed, as EC shot 46 percent from the floor in the period to pull away. Meanwhile, UNE made just 21 percent of its field goal tries.

Kamahl Walker matched his season-high of 28 points for Endicott (16-4, 11-2 CCC), coming on 8-of-13 shooting. He scored 11 of his team's first 12 points, and had 22 by intermission, as the senior became the program's career scoring leader (1,678) with a couple free throws late in the 1st frame.

Max Motroni added 14 points for the Gulls, and Daquan Sampson scored nine with a game-best 11 rebounds in support. The hosts controlled the boards by a 53-35 margin.

Off the bench for the visitors, Drew Muniz tallied a team-best nine points, and Zachary Kupferberg contributed eight points and seven caroms. The pair combined for 15 points in the opening 20 minutes, during which UNE out-shot (35%-28%) and out-rebounded (20-19) its opponent.

In spite of Walker's fast start, a jumper from Muniz had Endicott only up two (15-13) near the midway spot of the initial stanza, and the Gulls sat on a 35-30 spread at the break.

UNE (6-14, 4-9 CCC) returns to Biddeford on Saturday (4 p.m.) to face Roger Williams University (10-3 CCC).