Endicott falters in matchup between CCC's top teams; Salve wins 71-64

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BEVERLY, Mass. – With a win over Salve Regina, the Endicott men's basketball team could have found themselves in first place in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) but the Gulls struggled from the floor, the Seahawks defense forced 17 turnovers, and Salve Regina prevailed with a 71-64 victory on Wednesday night in MacDonald Gymnasium.
 
Endicott (11-5, 6-3 CCC) winners of their last five contests, dropped their second game this season to Salve Regina (10-7, 8-2 CCC).  The Gulls haven't lost twice the Seahawks in a single season since the 2001-02 campaign. 

Gulls senior forward Erik Callo (Southington, Conn.) registered his second straight double-double with a game-high 19 points and 15 rebounds, but his performance was overshadowed by Seahawks guard Ryan Birrell (Hope, R.I.).
 
Birrell, a two-time CCC Player of the Week honoree, scored 15 points, grabbed 10 boards, and dished out six assists in 39 game minutes to lead Salve Regina.  Birrell finished 6-of-16 from the floor and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line.  The Seahawks leading scorer in this game was sophomore guard Isiah Pringle (Queens, N.Y.) who finished 17 points with three makes from beyond the three-point line and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe late in the second half to help put the game away.
 
At the start of the first half, Salve Regina connected on 3-of-4 three-point attempts to build an 11-6 advantage within the first 2:22 of the game.  Endicott struggled shooting just 23.1% from the field in the early going but the Gulls climbed back into the game, trimming Salve Regina's lead down to just four with 2:10 to go until halftime.  Endicott freshman guard John Henault (Lunenberg, Mass.) was a factor, connecting on 2-of-5 shots and 3-of-3 free throw attempts for seven points.  He would finish with 14 for the game. 
 
Over the final 2:10 of the first half, however, the Seahawks rattled off a 9-2 run which included a basket by junior guard William Smiley (Saunderstown, R.I.) and a running layup by Birrell with five seconds left on the clock.  Smiley came off the bench to score 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting with three steals and a block.  Salve Regina led 41-30 at the half. 
 
Endicott went on a 7-0 run to begin the second half, with Henault and sophomore guard Lachlan Magee (Melbourne, Australia) drawing fouls and reaching the free throw line. 
 
Salve Regina regained momentum and went up by 11 at 56-45 following back-to-back fast break layups with long assists to Birrell and freshman guard Brendan Canova (Edina, Minn.).  For the remainder of the half, Endicott struggled to cut the Seahawks lead down to single digits until the late moments of the game. 
 
Endicott starters Lance Greene (Dorchester, Mass.) and Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.) chipped in with 10 points each.  Makris was strong defensively with three blocks and on the boards with nine caroms. 
 
Endicott looks to complete their season sweep over CCC rival Roger Williams on Saturday, January 28^th in Bristol, Rhode Island in a 3:00 pm tip-off.  Salve Regina will host the University of New England on the same day at the same time.