Endicott Ready for 2004-2005 Season

Nov. 16, 2004

The 2003-2004 men's basketball team experienced the most successful season in the college's history. The season included a record 23 wins, a second consecutive regular season conference championship and it's second Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament championship. In the championship game, in front of 1500 Endicott fans, Endicott rallied from a 19 point deficit with 12 minutes to go in regulation to tie the score and eventually emerged triumphant after two overtimes. This placed Endicott in the NCAA tournament for the second time in the college's history. The team's success throughout the season, ranked 5th regionally all year, allowed the program to experience it's first home NCAA game.

The Gulls utilized an up tempo style along with stingy defense, holding opponents to 39% shooting (ranked 23rd in the country in opponents field goal percentage), to go 14-2 in conference play. This brings Plansky's career record to 55-10 in conference games. Endicott's pressure defense again produced numerous steals, which ultimately led to easy baskets and the program's record for wins in a season. Endicott will miss the leadership of graduated seniors Tom Foster (Hartford, CT), Jeremy Currier (Hampstead, NH), Chris Lacasse (Rochester, NH) and Evan McDermott (Newport, RI). Currier leaves Endicott with the program's record for made threes and three-point field goal percentage. He also leaves with 1171 points as he became the 8th player to score over 1000 points at Endicott College.

2004-2005 Team

Senior guard Josh Oxton (Center Harbor, NH) looks to replace Currier at the off guard position as he moves over from point guard. Oxton is the college's all-time assist leader and will now look to create offense for himself from the off guard position. Senior James Leveque (Brockton, MA) brings experience and talent that will be hard to match in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Leveque is the program's leader in blocks and has already secured 468 rebounds in his three years at Endicott. Senior Carlos Nunez (Lawrence, MA) along with senior Matt Born (Watertown, MA) bring tremendous energy off the bench on the defensive end. Carlos is the team's top defender and helps create chaos in Endicott's pressure defense. Born is a great offensive rebounder and the team leader in taking offensive fouls.

Junior's Matt George (Dover, NH) and Zach Ellis (Bedford, MA) will look to have impact seasons. George was the third leading scorer last year and led the team in steals. If he stays healthy Endicott can expect a break out year from him. Ellis will be given the ball at the point guard position with the responsibility of running the team. Ellis carries a 2-1 assist to turnover ratio so he is more than capable of guiding the team.

Sophomore Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia) established himself as one of the best players in the league. Marinkovic was named the CCC Rookie of the Year and 1st Team All-CCC. He led the team in rebounds and was second in assists. Sophomores Sam Evans (Philadelphia, PA), Michael Sullivan (Marshfield, MA) will be counted on to offer serious depth to a talented starting five. Todd Burton (Lynn, MA), Gary Corbett (Danbury, CT), and Michael Lambert (Rochester, NH) lead a very talented incoming class that will compete for significant playing time. A demanding non-conference schedule with perennial Division III powers such as Wheaton, Umass-Dartmouth, Springfield College, Keene State, Bates and Eastern Connecticut State will prepare the basketball program to again compete for a NCAA tournament bid during the last week of February.