Men’s Basketball Downs Nichols, 93-77

BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team took down Nichols, 93-77, in a Conference of New England (CNE) clash on Tuesday evening at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) led the Gulls with a game-high 32 points (11-20 FG, 2-5 3PT, 8-8 FT), 12 rebounds, and six assists.

AJ Forte (Peabody, Mass.) generated 19 points, including five three-pointers and six boards off the bench.  

Cam Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.) posted 12 points, while Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) supplied 11 points in the Gulls' ninth straight win.

Endicott led by as many as seven points (24-17) with 8:53 left in the first half. The Gulls ignited an 8-3 run via a jumper from Drew Brown (Pelham, N.H.), a Montagnino lay-in and free throw, and a Keliher trifecta. 

Meanwhile, the stanza saw five lead changes and two ties, while the Bison led 38-37 at the break.

The Gulls created separation via a 13-4 stretch to take a 65-55 with 10:52 remaining in the contest. Montagnino spearheaded the spurt with seven points. 

From there, the Blue and Green's largest lead ballooned to double digits for the remainder of the game after a nifty corner three by Forte with 4:02 to play.   

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Montagnino recorded his eighth double-double and has scored in double-figures in every game of the 2024-25 campaign.
• The Gulls generated their 13th conference triumph, which is the most since 2016-17 (15-3).
• Endicott's Montagnino leads the CNE with 21.8 PPG, while Nichols' Javen Flowers-Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) posts 21.7 points a contest before tonight's matchup.
• The Gulls outdualed the Bison on the glass, 41-29. 
• Endicott is 23-24 against Nichols and 16-9 at The Nest all-time.
• The hosts' bench outscored the visitors' reserves, 27-3.
• Each team turned the ball over 14 times tonight. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (16-6, 13-2 CNE) visits Hartford on Saturday, February 15 at 3:00 PM. Nichols (11-11, 8-7 CNE) remains on the road against the University of New England (UNE) on Saturday at 3:00 PM. 

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

(Photo Credit - Kaeli Talora '25)