Men’s Basketball Storms Past UNE, 93-81

BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team saw a quartet of Gulls reach double-figures in a 92-79 victory over the University of New England (UNE) on Tuesday evening in a Conference of New England (CNE) clash at MacDonald Gymnasium. 

Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.) tied his career-high with 27 points (9-19 FG, 4-6 3PT, 5-5 FT) and three steals. 

Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) supplied an all-around performance of 24 points (9-12 FG, 3-3 3PT, 4-6 FT), 15 boards (career-best), and seven dimes. 

AJ Forte (Peabody, Mass.) tacked on 20 points (8-12 FG, 4-7 3PT) in 27 minutes off the bench, while Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) rounded out the individual highlights with his third double-double of the season via 13 points and 13 boards.  

After a back-and-forth opening five minutes of action, the Endicott offense took advantage of scoring opportunities in transition. The Blue and Green generated a 10-4 run to take a 25-18 lead with 11:27 to play. Forte spearheaded the spurt with five points off the bench.

Soon after, the visitors responded with a 9-4 scoring run to cut the deficit to 29-28 with 5:53 left. The Gulls outscored UNE 11-8 in the final four minutes of the first half, to take a 45-41 at the break.

Out of the locker room, the hosts manufactured a 13-4 stretch to capture their largest lead of 15 points (65-52). 

Montagnino began the run with a free throw and a jumper, while Forte, Cam Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.), Hill, and Montagnino later converted four consecutive layups. The spurt was capped by a Hill trifecta and a Max Grenert (Beverly, Mass.) jump shot with 11:49 to play.

The hosts also held the visitors to one made field goal over 4:31 (15:28-11:37) of action during the aforementioned run.

The Gulls' largest lead of the contest came after back-to-back three-pointers by Montagnino and Forte, 21 points (90-69), with 4:06 remaining and the Gulls never looked back.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott holds an 18-4 record at The Nest and 33-12 overall against the Nor'Easters. 
• Hill, Montagnino, and Forte are the first Gulls' trio to notch 20 points each since Matt McDevitt (29), Keith Brown (27), and Jalen Echevarria (20) did so in an 87-78 victory over Western New England on December 7, 2019.
• Tonight's contest featured the second-best scoring offense (Endicott - 83.7 PPG) and the third-best scoring offense (UNE - 83.1 PPG) in the CNE thus far.
• The Gulls' defense ignited 25 points on the offensive end to the Nor'Easters four.  
• Endicott turned over the Nor'Easters 15 times, which turned into an equal amount of points on the other end.
• The Blue and Green were plus-10 (50-40) on the glass and outscored UNE, 44-32 in the painted area.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (7-5, 4-1 CNE) remains at the Mac against Western New England (WNE) on Saturday, January 11, at 3:00 PM. UNE (4-8, 2-3 CNE) will host Roger Williams on Saturday at 3:00 PM. 

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(Photo Credit - Kaeli Talora '25)