Endicott season opener spoiled by College of Saint Joseph, 91-88

Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's basketball opened up their 2011-12 season with a high-scoring game against the College of Saint Joseph (Vt.) on Tuesday evening, but the Gulls came up short 91-88 to the Fighting Saints. 
 
Endicott now moves on to their weekend North Shore Collegiate Tip Off Tournament sponsored by the Comfort Inn in Danvers.  The Gulls will host all four games over the weekend with UMaine Augusta, Suffolk and MCLA.  Endicott and UMaine Augusta kick off the tournament on Friday night at 6:00 pm. 
 
Despite a combined 54 points from sophomore Lachlan Magee (Melbourne, Australia) and first-year forward Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.), the Gulls struggled to capitalized on missed shots by the Saints down the stretch. 
 
Makris was Endicott's leading scorer in just 23 minutes on the court with 29 points on 10-of-14 from the field with four three-pointers.  Makris was also 5-of-8 from the free throw line.  Magee, who played all but two minutes of the game, finished with 25 points on 7-of-14 shooting.  The sophomore got to the foul line often and connected on 9-of-11 attempts.  He also added two three point makes. 
 
Magee finished the game as Endicott's leading rebounder with six while adding two assists and two blocks in a solid overall effort.  Makris added three blocks and three rebounds to his totals. 
 
Despite Magee's team-high six rebounds, Endicott overall was outrebounded 51-37 by CSJ.  Leading the Fighting Saints was sophomore forward Dane Jobst (Athol, Mass.) who grabbed 10 rebounds including four on the offensive glass.  Jobst was CSJ's leading scorer as well with 25 points.  The Saints also got double-digit scoring efforts from KJ Jackson (Aurora, Ill.), Jamie Rajda (West Rutland, Vt.), Ramel Anderson (Roosevelt, N.Y.) and Raheim Smalls (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
 
In the first half, each team held six-point leads at one point in the period.  After trailing 4-0 at the start of the game, Endicott responded with a 10-point run capped off by a Jordan Lewis (Windsor, Conn.) fast-break layup following a block by Gulls freshman Matt Kneece (Shrewsbury, Mass.) just 5:11 into opening stanza.  CSJ fought back to make it 24-24 with 7:08 to go until halftime with the two teams exchanged the lead seven times.  The Fighting Scots then went ahead 32-26 on jumper by Jobst with 4:52 left on the clock.  Endicott would force a tie going into halftime as sophomore Mike Alvarez (Lawrence, Mass.) forced a turnover and earned the steal resulting in a fast-break layup as time expired. 
 
In the second half, Endicott took the early lead and went up by as many as eight midway through the period at 70-62 with 9:01 left in regulation.  CSJ tied the game at 79 with under five minutes remaining, but Makris nailed one of his four three pointers to give the Gulls back the lead at 82-79.  Fighting Saints forward Dre Anderson (St. Keller, Texas) then tipped in a rebound off a missed three-pointer by Jobst and Anderson scored a layup on CSJ's next possession to give the visitors an 83-82 lead.  Endicott would not regain the lead over the final 3:10 of regulation. 
 
As a team, the Gulls had 15 blocked shots including six by senior forward Aaron Karkow (Uncasville, Conn.).  Endicott also caused 13 steals in the game with Lewis, Karkow, and sophomore Tyler Burkhart (Cromwell, Conn.) each recording three thefts. 
 
Endicott shot 47.1% from the field overall.  In the second half alone, the Gulls shot 36.4% (4-of-11) from beyond the arc and 83.3% (15-of-18) from the charity stripe.