Montagnino’s Triple-Double Leads Men’s Basketball Past Hartford, 104-100 (OT)

BEVERLY, Mass. — Marcus Montagnino's (Gloucester, Mass.) triple-double led the Endicott men's basketball team past Hartford, 104-100 (OT), in a Conference of New England (CNE) thriller on Saturday afternoon from inside MacDonald Gymnasium. 

Montagnino produced an all-time performance for the Gulls record books. He posted a career-high 33 points (11-16 FG, 10-13 FT), 13 assists, and 11 rebounds to produce the second triple-double in program history.

Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Drew Brown (Pelham, N.H.) added 18 points as well.

At the halfway point of the first half, the Gulls took control via an 11-2 stretch. 

The run was manufactured by a Kinney slam, back-to-back trifectas from Matt Boen (Mansfield, Mass.) and Cam Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.), and then later Brown nailed a three-pointer to give Endicott its largest lead of the evening at 12 points (34-22) with 7:22 to play in the half.

The Gulls carried a 45-38 lead to the break, but Hartford cut the deficit to 54-51 early in the second. The Gulls responded with a 10-2 spurt, which pushed the lead back to double digits (64-53, 13:57). Four different student-athletes netted a point during the scoring run (Montagnino, Keliher, Kinney, and Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.).

Hartford never wavered and later took a 71-69 lead with 7:22 remaining in the contest. The matchup went back and forth into the final three minutes.

The Hawks nailed back-to-back three-pointers and a free throw to take an 86-82 advantage. On the ensuing possessions, Montagnino nailed four consecutive free throws to deadlock the game at 86-86 with 35 seconds to play.

Neither team was able to score in the closing seconds, which forced overtime.

The bonus period saw five lead changes and four ties before Endicott prevailed in an instant classic.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Josh Oxton '05 was the first student-athlete to earn a triple-double in program history in an 83-80 (OT) CCC Semifinal victory against Salve Regina on February 24, 2005 (21 PTS, 10 REB, 13 AST).
• Montagnino's triple-double was secured in regulation, which makes him the first student-athlete in program history to record a regulation triple-double (prior to entering overtime).
• Endicott is 7-1 when scoring 80+ points this season.
• Montagnino has scored in double-figures in every game this season and has generated three consecutive 30-point performances.
• The game saw seven lead changes and five ties.
• The Gulls are an unblemished 3-0 against the Hawks.
• Endicott edged Hartford in the paint, 34-30, while Hartford was plus-one on the glass (39-38).

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (9-6, 6-2 CNE) visits Nichols on Wednesday, January 22, at 7:30 PM. Hartford (4-11, 2-6 CNE) hosts Roger Williams on Wednesday at 7:30 PM. 

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(Photo Credit - Kaeli Talora '25)