No. 22 Men's Basketball Downs WNE, 73-58

BEVERLY, Mass. — The No. 22 nationally ranked Endicott men's basketball team defeated Western New England, 73-58, in Tuesday evening's Conference of New England (CNE) showdown from MacDonald Gymnasium.

Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) and AJ Forte (Peabody, Mass.) led the Gulls in scoring with 13 points apiece. Montagnino shot 4-6 from the field and 5-6 from the charity stripe, while Forte went 4-11 from the field, 2-8 from downtown, and 3-4 from the line.

Montagnino also added eight rebounds and five assists to his statline. Forte supplied three rebounds, three assists, and a career-high three blocks for the Blue and Green.

Max Grenert (Beverly, Mass.) logged another productive night from off the bench, as he rounded out the double-digit scorers with his 11-point (3-5 FG, 3-4 3PT, 2-2 FT) performance.

Matt Boen (Mansfield, Mass.) filled out the stat sheet with eight points (4-9 FG), four boards, three assists, and a pilfer in his 27 minutes.

Facing a 10-5 deficit at the 11:39 mark of the first half, Jason Romans (Peabody, Mass.) gave the Gulls offense a spark after draining a catch-and-shoot three. 

Then, after the Golden Bears regained a five-point lead (24-19, 5:41 remaining), the Gulls strung together a 13-1 run fueled by back-to-back triples from Romans and Grenert, a tough Andrew Mitchell (Roxbury, Mass.) finish at the rim, and consecutive Forte outside jumpers.

From there, the Gulls held on to their multi-possession lead, and headed into the break up five (35-30).

Western New England emerged from halftime on an 8-0 run to reclaim a three point lead, but a layup from Forte and a corner three from Cam Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.) put the Blue and Green back in front.

The hosts remained in control until the 7:28 mark, when the Golden Bears once again chipped away and snatched a quick lead. However, that lead lasted for all of 30 seconds, as a Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.) free throw followed by a Montagnino drive to the rack started a 16-0 scoring spree for the Gulls. Caden Sullivan (Franklin, Mass.) capped off the stretch with a triple at the 2:18 mark.

A few moments later, the Golden Bears emptied their bench, and Endicott eventually closed out its 73-58 win.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott holds a 20-15 advantage in the all-time series.
• Second time the Gulls have held an opponent under 60 points this season (12/6/25 vs. Wentworth).
• The Gulls are 7-0 at home this season.
• The Blue and Green received 39 points from off the bench. That marks their second highest total this season (12/6/25), and they outscored the Golden Bears 39-17 in that department.
• Endicott held Western New England to 2-17 shooting from beyond-the-arc.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 22 Endicott (12-1, 4-0 CNE) heads to Hartford this Saturday for a 3 PM CNE matchup. Western New England (8-4, 2-2 CNE) heads to UNE on Saturday for a 3 PM CNE contest. 

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(Photo Credit - Bradley Griffin '28)