Endicott 79, Salve Regina 90; Gulls suffer seventh straight loss on the road

NEWPORT, R.I. – Facing an 11-point halftime deficit, the Endicott men's basketball battled CCC rival Salve Regina in the second half and took the lead with 3:35 remaining in regulation but the Seahawks regained control of the game and beat the Gulls 90-79, handing the Blue and Green their seventh straight defeat on the 2012-13 season.

Endicott (7-10, 2-8 CCC) plays one more road game on Saturday, January 26^th at 3:00 pm at Roger Williams before returning home on Tuesday.  Salve Regina improved to 10-7 (6-4 CCC) with the win.

The Gulls were led by 17 points apiece by senior guard Lance Greene (Dorchester, Mass.) and sophomore guard John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.).  Greene did much of his damage in the second half, hitting 6-of-8 field goal attempts including two three pointers to help the Gulls get back in the game.  Henault was a first half threat, sinking 6-of-9 shots from the floor including 2-of-3 from three-point range, but drained a critical three-pointer with 3:35 left in the game to give the Gulls a 75-74 lead in the second half.

Salve Regina got 21 points from starters William Smiley (Saunderstown, R.I.) and Joshua Hohlfelder (Noank, Conn.) as well as 19 points off the bench from Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, Mass.) to lead the Seahawks to back-to-back wins in conference play.

With the Gulls trailing 72-67 with 6:24 remaining in the game, the Gulls made one final bid to take the lead and after a three-pointer by Greene, a layup by the Seahawks, a jumper by sophomore Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.) and deep three by Henault Endicott took the lead at 75-74 with 3:35 to go. 

Free throws by Dinneen put Salve Regina back on top 76-75.  After another jumper by Greene gave Endicott the 77-76 advantage with just 3:09 left, the Seahawks took control of the game and scored 14-of the 18 points in the waning moments of the game. 

Dinneen was clutch down the stretch with back-to-back three-pointers and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line.

Endicott finished at 46.7% from the field as a team, including a stunning 61.1% (11-of-18) from beyond the arc.  Along with Greene and Henault, junior Lachlan Magee (Melbourne, Australia) finished in double figures with 11 points on 5-of-12 from the floor.  Junior forward Tell White (New Castle, N.H.) finished with a team-high five rebounds. 

Smiley for Salve Regina led all players with 13 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass.  Jeff Bielefeld was the fourth player from the Seahawks to score at least 10 points, scoring on 5-of-8 field goal attempts with seven rebounds.