No. 22 Men's Basketball Tops Hartford, 92-83

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The No. 22 nationally ranked Endicott men's basketball team defeated Hartford, 92-83, in Saturday afternoon's Conference of New England (CNE) matchup at Chase Arena.

Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) posted an all-around impressive performance, as he scored a game-high 31 points (12-29 FG, 7-7 FT), hauled down 11 rebounds, and dished out five assists.

Matt Boen (Mansfield, Mass.) scored a career-high 18 points (6-9 FG, 5-8 FT) and also dished out three assists, swatted two blocks, and came away with two boards.

Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with an 11-point (5-5 FG, 1-1 3PT) performance, while Caden Sullivan (Franklin, Mass.) filled out the stat sheet with a five-point (2-5 FG, 1-2 3PT), eight-rebound, two-assist, and three-steal afternoon.

After a back-and-forth first 11 minutes of play, Montagnino drove baseline and finished a tough and-one layup to even the score at 28, and then drilled the free throw to put the Gulls up 29-28.

That play began a 19-7 Gulls spurt to put them up by double-digits (45-35). 13 of the 19 Endicott points in that stretch came from Montagnino, while Forte and Sullivan both drained triples to join in on the charge.

The Hawks found some late life in the half to close on a 6-3 run, but the Gulls headed to the halftime break with a 48-41 lead. Montagnino led the way with 21 points (10-17 FG, 1-1 FT), five rebounds, and three assists in the opening stanza (just 17 minutes played).

The second half kicked off with an immediate challenge from head coach Kevin Bettencourt after Boen drove to the rim and hit his layup, but was called for an offensive foul. After review, Bettencourt's challange attempt was rewarded, as the play was overturned to a made layup and blocking foul, sending Boen to the line for the and-one, which he knocked down.

A few minutes later, Liam Dunfee (Nahant, Mass.) hauled in an offensive rebound and layed in a putback bucket, cashing in some second chance points for the Gulls.

Another Boen and-one and a catch and shoot triple from Jason Romans (Peabody, Mass.) kept the Gulls offense rolling, and a few minutes later, a successful two-for-two trip to the foul line for Cam Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.) gave the Gulls their largest lead of the day at 18 (82-64). 

The Hawks scrapped together a 9-2 run to get back within 11, but the stellar offense of Montagnino and steady free throw shooting of the Gulls kept the lead at double-digits until late in the contest.

Eventually, the Hawks converted a layup inside with 22 seconds remaining to make it a 92-83 game, but the Blue and Green successfully killed the clock from there and sealed their road win.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott leads the all-time series, 5-0.
• The Gulls extended their win streak to seven.
• Last season, Montagnino recorded a 33-point triple-double against the Hawks (1/18/25).
• The Blue and Green led for 30:08 (75.3%) of play.
• Boen's 18 points surpassed his previous career high of 17 set on 2/19/25 against Roger Williams.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 22 Endicott (13-1, 5-0 CNE) heads to Gordon next Wednesday for a 7:30 PM CNE matchup with the Fighting Scots. Hartford (9-5, 3-2 CNE) heads to Curry on Wednesday for a 7:30 PM CNE contest. 

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(Photo Credit - Bradley Griffin '28)