Burton, Marinkovic Make the Difference
Feb. 2, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - Junior forward Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro/Second Baptist School, TX) and sophomore guard Todd Burton (Lynn, MA/St. Mary's) combined for nearly half of Endicott College's points in a 66-58 victory over Commonwealth Coast Conference rival New England College Tuesday night at MacDonald Gymnasium.
Burton put home a game-high 17 points (6-of-10 from the floor) while dishing out three assists and grabbing two steals. Marinkovic, who was 5-of-7 shooting, added 15 points, three rebounds and dished out two assists to help the Gulls snap a two-game slide and raise their record to 12-7 overall, 9-1 in the CCC.
Freshman guard Bobby Montrond (Brockton, MA) paced NEC (9-9, 4-5 CCC), scoring a team-high 15 points with seven rebounds, two assists and a game-high eight steals. Junior forward Antoine Sylvia (Brockton, MA) blocked three shots and scored 11 points while sophomore forward Andrew Tremble (Westwood, MA) piled up 10 points and pulled down six boards.
Endicott shot 59 percent from the floor in the first half and led, 40-21, at the break thanks to Burton's 11 first half points, Marinkovic's nine senior guard Zach Ellis (Westford, MA/Westford Academy), who chipped in six points.
EC's defense forced eight turnovers in the first half, but the Pilgrims took care of the ball in the final 20 minutes and Montrond took it away from the Gulls. He had five steals and dropped in 12 points in the final 20 minutes but Endicott countered Montrond's play with its bench.
Freshman forward Francis Mayi (Lawrence, MA/Lawrence) steadied the Gulls in the second half. Mayi was 3-of-4 shooting and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe, picking up eight points in 15 minutes. Freshman forward JM Ramsey (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan Academy) sank two three-pointers, both in the first half, and finished with six points and a block in nine minutes of duty.
Endicott travels to Nichols College Saturday afternoon (1) while NEC visits Curry (3).