Gulls Gear Up for Jumbos
Feb. 28, 2006
Endicott College head coach Chris Millette is familiar with Tufts, the Gulls NCAA Tournament first round opponent. Millette was an assistant coach with the Jumbos for two seasons under current Tufts head coach Bob Sheldon.
Millette helped Sheldon recruit some of the upperclassmen that have guided Tufts to a 21-6 recornd and an NCAA first round match with the Gulls, Friday night (6) in Cortland, New York.
"I definately have mixed emotions about Friday night," said Millette, who is looking to become the first coach in EC men's basketball history to win an NCAA game.
"I'm excited for them and it's really good to see them get to the tournament after what they had to go through in their freshman and sophomore seasons. But honestly, I'm focused on sending them home Friday night."
State University of New York at Cortland (23-4) is the host school and Little East Conference champions UMass-Boston will play in the nightcap game at 8:00 PM Friday. The winners will meet Saturday night (7) for a shot at the Sweet 16, March 10-11.
Endicott is making fourth overall journey to the NCAA Tournament and if the trio of Matt George (Dover, NH/Dover), Zach Ellis (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) and Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro/Second Baptist School, TX) can maintain their stellar play to date in the postseason, the Gulls will be playing Saturday night.
George was the driving force in the CCC Tournament, earning his second straight CCC Player of the Week honors after averaging 23.7 points on over 50 percent shooting from the field as well as beyond the arc, while hitting over 80 percent of his foul shots.
George averaged 32.3 minutes per night and was the game's leading scorer in all three of the wins in the postseason helping Endicott earned the right to square off against Tufts University of the New England Small College Athletic Conference on Friday, March 3, 2006 at Cortland State.
George is leading the team in steals (1.73), assists (3.86) and assists to turnover ratio (1.10). All three of those stats are among the best in the CCC as well and he was the only Endicott men's basketball player to be named the Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Week this season.
George and Marinkovic were CCC All-Conference selections who each eclipsed the 1,000-point barrier this season while Ellis has 70 three-pointers this season. They are the team's top three scorers, both in the regular season and the postseason.
The trio was at its best in the CCC Championship, combing for 50 of the Gulls' 65 points in their CCC Championship win over Colby-Sawyer (65-56). They also teamed up to dish out 12 assists, pull down 21 rebounds, record three steals and block two shots. George collected a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point land, and 3-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Playing with three fouls for the majority of the second half, George dished out a game-best five assists, blocked two shots and came up with two steals to guide Endicott to its school-record tying third consecutive CCC championships (women's soccer and softball also have three straight CCC titles).
Ellis (4-of-7 3-PT) picked up 12 points and three assists and fueled Endicott (19-9) in the second half, canning three consecutive three-pointers to help the hosts maintain their a double digit lead. Marinkovic dropped in 16 points, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and dished out four assists.
Marinkovic, who played 33 minutes per game, was a steady force in the paint at both ends of the court during the three-game run. The 6-foot-4 junior averaged a double-double during the playoffs (13.3 PPG; 10.0 rebounds) and dished out eight assists in three games.
One of the keys to the game was Marinkovic's ability to defend Colby-Sawyer sharp-shooter Justin Thorpe. Millette warned his team before the contest if Thorpe scored 20 Endicott would not win the game. Thorpe did not manage a single point.
Averaging 31.3 minutes in the postseason, Ellis averaged 9.7 points on 7-of-17 three's (.412 percent). The guard handed out 11 assists (3.7 per game) and only turned the ball over four times.
Marinkovic and George became the eighth and ninth Endicott players to join the 1,000-point club this season. Millette described George as one of the toughest players to defend in New England. His ability to beat you inside and score from outside makes him an all-star. George is one of the top ball handlers in the CCC as well.
Todd Burton (Lynn, MA/St. Mary's) and Mike Sullivan (Marshfield, MA/Marshfield) are EC's other two starters at guard and center, respectively. Sophomore Gary Corbett (Danbury, CT/Danbury) is the Gulls' sixth man while freshmen Joey Burgos (Lawrence, MA/Lawrence) and Francis Mayi (Lawrence, MA/Lawrence) are both solid inside players who can block shots as well as any Endicott player.