Endicott Advances in ECAC Tournament
Feb. 28, 2007
MEDFORD, MA - The Endicott College men's basketball team survived a second half scare, as Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Second Baptist, Houston, TX) hit a turn-around jumper with the clock winding down, as the Gulls got past Lasell College, 68-67 in Medford, MA.
The first half was all Endicott, as the Gulls held the Lasers to 8-of-31 (25.8%) shooting from the field in the opening 20:00 minutes. The Gulls got 10 points from Marinkovic along with eight points from junior guard Todd Burton (Lynn, MA/St. Mary's/Canterbury School), as the Gulls carried a 36-20 lead into the intermission.
Lasell retook the Cousens Gymnasium floor on the campus of Tufts University as a refocused basketball team. The Lasers began chipping away at the Endicott lead, led by the hard-nosed play of Jose Guitian (Miami, FL/Miami Springs). The 6-9 sophomore forward led the charge for the visitors, as he connected from behind the arc twice during a 17-6 Lasell run.
Moments later, the visitors got their first lead since the 14:55 mark of the first half, as Jaime Crawford (Coral Springs, FL/Westminster) hit consecutive free-throws, putting Lasell up 67-66. Following an Endicott timeout, the Gulls found their All-CCC First Team forward Nemanja Marinkovic in the low-post for the turn-around game winner, as Endicott escaped with a 68-67 victory.
The Gulls were led by Marinkovic's 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Todd Burton finished the night with 10 points and 10 rebounds, good for a solid double-double. Graham Whitelaw (Kennebunk, ME/Cheverus) chipped in 12 points in the win. Lasell was paced by Jose Guitian's game-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Jaime Crawford turned in 17 points and five rebounds in the losing effort.
With the win, Endicott advances to the Semifinals of the ECAC New England Tournament. The Gulls will face top-seeded Western New England College on Friday night in Springfield, MA. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM. In the other Semifinal contest, No. 2 St. Joseph's will host sixth seeded Curry College. The championship game will be played at the highest remaining seed on Saturday afternoon.