Endicott predicted to finish atop CCC men's basketball standings

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The defending CCC champion Endicott men's basketball team has been selected by the head coaches of the league to once again finish on top of the conference standings.  Commissioner Gregg M. Kaye announced today's CCC Preseason Men's Basketball Poll which saw the Gulls receive eight of a possible 10 first place votes. 

Wentworth was selected to finish second, while acquiring one first place vote. The 2011-12 runner-up, Salve Regina was picked to finish third, while Curry and Gordon were slated to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. Rounding out the remaining five slots was Nichols (sixth), Roger Williams  (seventh), Western New England (eighth), University of New England (ninth), and Eastern Nazarene (10th).

Last year' s Endicott men's basketball team bested a competitive field to win the 2012 CCC Championship and in the fourth year under head coach Phil Rowe, the Gulls are fully entrenched in a new basketball philosophy that could potentially set them up for long-term success.  Bringing a conference title back to Beverly after overcoming a season of trials and tribulations, injury, and growing pains for younger players showed a great deal of character for a men's basketball program that historically has been strong since Endicott went co-educational in the early 1990s. 

"The competitiveness and understanding of what it takes to play at that level was remarkable," said Rowe, who won his first CCC Championship and guided his team to a 20-9 overall record and a NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time since 2006.  "This team has a commitment to making themselves and each other better so they can taste that success again."

That commitment began last spring shortly after the team's 72-71 overtime loss to Oswego State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, a game Endicott led for nearly 30 minutes until Lakers forced overtime.  A victory would have been Endicott's first NCAA Tournament win in program history.  Led by the four captains for 2012-13 season, senior Lance Greene and juniors Tyler Burkhart, Bennett Knowlton, and Lachlan Magee, the Gulls directed their focus on winning not just on the court, but off the court in the classroom, the weight room, and in the community. 

Greene, a three-time All-CCC honoree including two First Team awards in each of the past two seasons, is the lone senior on the Gulls roster in 2012-13.  His athletic accomplishments speak for themselves as Greene, Endicott's starting point guard since his rookie season, has averaged 14.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.9 steals per game for his career.  Last winter, Greene, with four other starters scoring in double figures, had a career year with 108 assists, nearly four assists per game.  As it stands at the start of the regular season, Greene is just 85 points shy of 1,000 for his career as he looks to join eight former Endicott men's basketball student-athletes who have already accomplished the feat. 

"Lance is a quality young man and student-athlete.  He has embraced the whole experience at Endicott and his basketball work ethic resonates throughout the entire team."

Burkhart is now a two-year captain in just his junior year and has shown incredibly adversity after overcoming injuries in each of his first two seasons.  Burkhart finally got healthy at the start of 2012 and finished the year averaging 5.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 0.8 steals off the bench.  Similarly, Knowlton plays a major role off the bench as he has appeared in all 56 of Endicott's games since his rookie year in 2010-11, averaging 18.6 minutes per game.  Knowlton, a junior guard with 351 career points (6.3 ppg), enters his first season as a captain. 

Endicott's fourth captain junior guard/forward Lachlan Magee has been an integral part of the Gulls offense, averaging 13.3 points per game, and has accumulated 746 career points over his first two seasons.  With another productive year, Magee could join Greene in the 1,000-point club later on this season.  A 2011-12 All-CCC Honorable Mention player, Magee along with Greene averaged over 30 minutes played per game and ranked in the top-ten in the CCC in scoring. 

Endicott's sophomore class, consisting of CCC Rookie of the Year and First Team forward Andre Makris, All-CCC Honorable Mention guard John Henault, and big man Matt Kneece, returns and will be counted on heavily in 2012-13. 

"Makris, Henault, and Kneece are very good players.  I challenged them last spring to focus on getting better and they responded by putting in a tremendous amount of hard work which has set the foundation to compete at the highest level in the CCC."

A four-time CCC Rookie of the Week, Makris averaged 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while his 49 blocks ranked him among the league leaders.  Henault, a three-time CCC Rookie of the Week honoree, was electric from beyond the arc in his rookie season making 53-of-123 (43.1%) attempts while playing shutdown defense on some of the conference's best guards.  Kneece provided an intimidating presence in the paint, blocking 13 shots in just 11 minutes a game, and will be expected to take the next step in his development this winter. 

Rowe's incoming freshman class is talented and creates a deep bench at every position.  Sebago, Maine native (Cheverus) Shawn Grover and North Granby, Connecticut's (Granby) Nick Mazzotta have the opportunity to battle for minutes and will have significant contributions at the forward position by season's end.  Guards Matt Ellis (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy), James Kapothanasis (Westbrook, Maine/Cheverus), Eddie Danek (Suffield, Conn./Suffield), and Dan Powers (Westwood, Mass./Catholic Memorial) all looked solid in the preseason and will also provide significant depth for the Endicott bench. 

"All of our freshmen look good.  They are learning and improving everyday which tells me their basketball intelligence is high."

Endicott's season kicks off at the Rivier Tournament where the Gulls will face Framingham State in round one on Friday, November 16^th at 8:00 pm.  The team's home opener will also be their conference schedule opener as Endicott and Salve Regina meet in a rematch of last year's CCC Championship on November 28^th at 7:30 pm in MacDonald Gymnasium.  After an eight-game stretch to wrap up the fall semester, the Blue and Green start 2013 with North Shore rival and regionally acclaimed Salem State on January 2^nd before getting into the bulk of their league schedule.  Saturday, February 16^th versus Eastern Nazarene is the final regular season home game and Senior Day with the CCC Tournament slated to begin with quarterfinal action on Tuesday, February 19^th.  The 2013 CCC Championship will be held on Saturday, February 23^rd.   

2012-13 CCC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll