Second Half Surge Pushes Endicott Past Hartford, 70-61

BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team defeated Hartford, 70-61, in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon at MacDonald Gymnasium. 

Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.) scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the second stanza to help Endicott erase a six-point Hartford lead at halftime (28-22).

Jalen Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) added 13 points, while Max Grenert (Beverly, Mass.) notched 10 points in 15 minutes off the bench (4-7 FG, 2-4 3PT).

Coming out of the break, the Gulls produced a 31-23 run to take the lead for good with 6:47 to play in the contest.

Grenert helped spark the spurt with a pair of three-pointers (46-43, 10:30; 51-49, 7:23), while Echevarria and Drew Brown (Pelham, N.H.) poured in five points each. 

Eight different scorers contributed to the run that featured three lead changes and two ties.

Brown was instrumental in the comeback bid as the senior guard provided the first of a few huge momentum swings when he buried a three-ball at 13:04 to even the score at 39-39.

From there, the Gulls nailed four straight free throws to take a 43-39 lead (11:42) before Grenert's threes, a fastbreak layup by Hill, and a contested layup from Vitko pushed the hosts over the last hurdle.

Hill followed a few possessions later with a one-handed dunk (video above) that nearly blew the roof off of MacDonald Gymnasium and the Gulls never looked back.

The sophomore guard beat his defender at the top of the key then swiftly sped past two collapsing defenders on each side of the block before he threw down the hammer to punctuate the comeback. 

Endicott sealed the victory at the free-throw line down the stretch as they went five-of-six at the charity stripe.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott is 2-0 all-time against Hartford.
• The Gulls are 7-3 at home this season.
• Grenert's 10 points tied a career-high.
• Endicott went 12-13 from the free-throw line, shooting a season-high 92.3 percent. 
• Liam Dunfee (Nahant, Mass.) led the team with seven rebounds, marking his third straight performance with five or more boards.
• Today's game served as Alumni Day for the Gulls.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (13-8) travels to Roger Williams on Tuesday, February 6 at 7:30 PM. Hartford (6-15) travels to Suffolk on Tuesday at 7:30 PM. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)