Men's Basketball Outlasts Salem State, 87-80

SALEM, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team fended off Salem State, 87-80, in Thursday evening's non-conference bout with the Vikings.

Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) led the way with 24 points (9-14 FG, 1-1 3PT, 5-7 FT), five rebounds, five assists, and a career-high six steals.

Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) put up 18 points (6-12 FG, 1-2 3PT, 5-5 FT), nine rebounds, and three assists, while Cam Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.) posted 17 points (5-8 3PT, 2-2 FT), seven rebounds, three assists, and two thefts.

Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.) rounded out the double-digit scoring with an 11-point, five-assist performance.

After a slow start which saw Salem State hop out to a 19-5 advantage over the first nine minutes, Montagnino ignited a 16-6 run (6:14 stretch) with a corner triple, a floater, and a theft. Keliher, Kinney, Carter Koenig (Glen Ridge, N.J.), and Hill also chipped in on the spurt.

The Vikings responded via a 10-2 charge, pushing the lead back to 12 (35-23) with 2:11 to play.

Endicott closed the half on a strong note (9-2 run; 37-32) thanks to triples from Hill and Keliher and a three-point, and-one finish around the rim from Montagnino.

A few minutes out of the break, Koenig knotted things up at 43 a side after nailing a catch and shoot three-pointer from the corner off of Kinney's feed.

Thanks to a few nice finishes inside, the Vikings rode a 10-3 spurt back to a 53-46 advantage.

Trailing 58-49 with 9:15 to play, Drew Brown (Pelham, N.H.) cut the deficit back to six with a triple from the corner off of Hill's nice inbound play.

The two teams traded baskets over the following few minutes until back-to-back triples from Keliher and Hill made it a one-possession game.

Fastbreak buckets from Montagnino and Kinney set things back even at 70 with 4:14 remaining.

On the ensuing Endicott possession, Montagnino drained a mid-range jumper from the right corner to give the Gulls their first lead of the contest.

Kinney then piled on with a nice out-of-bounds save and corner three on the next trip down to put the Gulls ahead, 75-71, with just 2:37 on the clock.

A steady diet of Kinney down low and some clutch free throw shooting from Hill, Montagnino, and Keliher held the Vikings at bay the rest of the way, closing out the 87-80 road win for the Gulls.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls lead the all-time series, 11-6.
• Salem State held the lead for the first 35:42 of the contest.
• Montagnino's six steals ties a host of Gulls for ninth-most in program single-game history.
• Keliher's 17 points were a new career-best.
• The Blue and Green sunk 13 triples as opposed to Salem State's four.
• They also strung together 20 assists while the Vikings posted just 10. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (5-4, 2-1 CNE) heads to Saint Joseph's (Maine) for a 5 PM non-conference matchup on Saturday. Salem State (3-8, 0-0 MASCAC) heads up to Bowdoin on Saturday for a 1 PM tipoff with the Polar Bears.  

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(Photo Credit - Bradley Griffin '28)