Endicott Wins Second Consecutive Regular Season CCC Title

February 21, 2004

Feb. 21, 2004

BIDDEFORD, MAINE-The Endicott Gulls extended their school winning streak to 11 by beating the Nor'easters of the University of New England on the road by a score of 87-72. This win coupled with a Colby-Sawyer loss at Anna Maria College secured Endicott with it's second consecutive CCC regular season title. It also established a school record for wins in a season with the Gull's 20th win of the season. "After we lost for a second time to Colby-Sawyer in January we went into post-season mode. We knew any other loss would eliminate any chance of winning the conference championship again. For our guys to win 11 consecutive games in the league is a testament to our players and staff" stated head coach Michael Plansky.

"After we lost for a second time to Colby-Sawyer in January we went into post-season mode. We knew any other loss would eliminate any chance of winning the conference championship again. For our guys to win 11 consecutive games in the league is a testement to our players and staff"

Head Coach - Mike Plansky

The Gulls jumped out to a 20-5 lead in the first 7 minutes on senior night for The University of New England but the Nor'easters would not go away quitely. The Nor'easters chipped away at the lead and went into half time trailing 34-27.

University of New England then closed the lead to 3, 34-31, early in the second half before Endicott was able to stretch the lead to 23, 78-55, with an effective full court press and strong half court defense. Endicott collected 15 steals on the afternoon led by Matt George (5 steals), Nemanja Marinkovic (4 steals) and Josh Oxton's 3 steals.

Endicott's Nemanja Marinkovic had another strong game with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Endicott also placed three other players in double figures led by Jeremy Currier's 20 points. Matt George (16 points) and Chris Lacasse (12 points) also scored double figures for the Gulls.

UNE was led by Matt McManis' 20 points which included McManus going 6-8 from three point land. Sr. Brandon Berthiaume tallied 11 points and was followed in double figures by Mark Oliver and Mike Hardy with 13 and 11 points respectively.

The win guarantees that Endicott will be home throughout the playoff. Michael Plansky stated it best when he said " Our guys are excited to play in front of the best fans in New England throughout the whole CCC post-season tournament."

Endicott will face Salve Regina University in the first round of the CCC post-season tournament Tuesday night, February 24th, at 7pm.