Men's Basketball Tops Hartford 78-63; Extends Win Streak To Ten

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The Endicott men's basketball team won its 10th straight contest with a 78-63 victory over Hartford in Saturday afternoon's Conference of New England (CNE) clash at Chase Family Arena.

Drew Brown (Pelham, N.H.) and Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) were the only Gulls to crack double-digits in scoring, with 19 and 12 points, respectively. Montagnino also picked up 11 rebounds, five assists, four steals, and two blocks, while Brown logged five boards, two steals, and a rejection.

Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) recorded a near double-double, as he tallied eight points and secured 10 boards. He also swatted away two shots prior to fouling out after 21 minutes.

Matt Boen (Mansfield, Mass.) chipped in eight points, six dimes, and three pilfers, while AJ Forte (Peabody, Mass.) scored nine points (7-7 FT) with seven rebounds and four assists in the contest.

Endicott got off to a quick 10-6 start over the first 4:54 thanks to two triples from Brown and a layup from Boen. Hartford responded with a 6-1 spurt to take a brief lead, but from there, the Gulls ripped off a 21-4 run over the ensuing 8:50 of play, giving them a 32-16 lead that they would never relinquish the rest of the way. 

At the half, they led 36-22, which proved to be too much for the Hawks to overcome in the second stanza. 

With 9:50 remaining, the hosts closed the gap to seven (52-45), but clutch buckets from Max Grenert (Beverly, Mass.) and Cam Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.) pushed the Gulls' lead back to 10 with just under nine minutes to play. The uphill battle was unattainable for the Hawks from that point on, and Endicott eventually closed out the game by a score of 78-63.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott leads the all-time series, 4-0.
• Brown's 182 points this season are a career-high. His previous career-high scoring season was 2023-24, when he logged 125 points.
• Entering today's contest, Montagnino ranked 37th in NCAA Division III scoring (467 points). He ranks tops in the CNE in points per game (21.8).
• The 10-game win streak is the longest for the Blue and Green since the 2014-15 season (14 games).
• Endicott holds the first seed in the CNE with two games remaining in the regular season. The top two teams in the conference receive a bye in the CNE Tournament.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (17-6, 14-2 CNE) welcomes Roger Williams to MacDonald Gymnasium on Wednesday evening in a 5:30 PM CNE matchup. Hartford (4-19, 2-14 CNE) hosts Suffolk at Chase Family Arena on Wednesday in a 7:30 PM CNE contest. 

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(Photo Credit - Kaeli Talora '25)