Endicott suffers second straight CCC loss with 76-69 to Roger Williams

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BRISTOL, R.I. – The Endicott men's basketball team got double-double efforts from senior Erik Callo (Southington, Conn.) and freshman Andre Makris (Southbury, Conn.) but it was not enough as the Gulls lost their second CCC game in-a-row after a 76-69 road defeat to Roger Williams.

Endicott (11-6, 6-4 CCC) trailed by one at halftime, 34-33, but took the advantage for the first ten minutes of the second half before the Gulls and Hawks exchanged the lead five times down the stretch.  Roger Williams (11-7, 7-4 CCC) won their third straight and jumped ahead of the Gulls in the conference standings with the win. 

Makris recorded his first double-double since November 22^nd with his 16-point, 11-rebound output against the Hawks on Saturday.  The forward went 6-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.  Callo had his third straight double-double game with 10 points and 12 rebounds with three assists.  The duo's combined 23 rebounds were part of a dominating effort on the boards by Endicott who held a 50-37 advantage including 17 offensive rebounds.  Both players also had two blocks apiece. 

Three other Endicott players scored at least 10 points including sophomore guard Tyler Burkhart (Cromwell, Conn.) who had his most efficient game of the season with 11 points on 5-of-6 from the field including a three-ball.  Burkhart's 11 points off the bench were his most since November 19^th when he scored 12 in an overtime win over MCLA. 

Roger Williams was led by senior center Pat Flanagan (Somerville, Mass.) who had 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting with seven rebounds.  Flanagan was also a factor defensively with five blocks.  Junior Mike Engemann (Red Bank, N.J.) and freshman Ryan Palumbo (Warwick, R.I.) each reached double figures with 17 and 10 points, respectively, for the Hawks. 

The Blue and Green had a six-point lead at the 5:28 mark of the second half following free throws by Gulls sophomore Lachlan Magee (Melbourne, Australia), but back-to-back three-pointers by Roger Williams tied the game at 60 with just over four minutes to go in the game. 

After an Endicott turnover on the next possession, the Hawks came down the court and took their final lead of the game on a jumper by Flanagan with an assist to Palumbo, one of his game-high eight dimes. 

In the final minute, Endicott looked for some late-game heroics after three-pointers by Magee and freshman guard John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) but the Gulls got no closer than to within four points before time expired.  Magee and Henault both reached double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively. 

The Hawks converted 17 Endicott turnovers into 19 points and got 20 points from their bench, compared to 14 for the Gulls.  Endicott struggled with their shooting from the field, but were consistent at the free throw line (80.0%) thanks in part in to Magee (6-of-7) and Makris (4-of-4).

Endicott will look to break their short losing streak on Tuesday, January 31^st on the road against Wentworth (11-6, 7-4 CCC).  Tip-off is at 7:30 pm.