Men's Basketball Drops Season Opener to MIT, 85-77

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team fell in its season opener to MIT, 85-77, on Wednesday night at the Rockwell Cage.

Graduate student Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) led the Gulls with 19 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field. He also led the team with four assists and added four rebounds in the setback.

Matt Boen (Mansfield, Mass.) scored 15 points, as Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) was right behind Boen with 14 points to go with nine rebounds. Parker McLaren (Newburyport, Mass.) put together a double-double for Endicott, scoring 10 points and grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds.

Despite trailing 19-8 a little over six minutes into the contest, the Gulls went on a 27-11 run to take a 35-30 lead at the 1:59 mark of the first half following a Kinney free throw. During that span, Endicott was led by Boen who scored eight points while McLaren added six buckets as the defense held the Engineers to 4-17 shooting and caused five turnovers.

MIT produced a 7-0 run to end the first half and take a two-point lead to the break. The Engineers never looked back as they outscored Endicott 48-42 over the final 20 minutes. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott moves to 4-5 all-time versus the Engineers.
• Fourth double-double of McLaren's career.
• AJ Forte (Peabody, Mass.) scored his first career collegiate basket, ending the night with four points.
• The Gulls finished the night leading in Second Chance Points, 20-6. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (0-1) takes on Suny Poly in the Emmanuel Tournament on Friday, November 15 at 8 PM. MIT (2-0) travels to Rhode Island College on Saturday, November 16 at 7:30 PM.

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Photo Credit - (Leanna Puccio '24)