Bridgewater St. Sneaks Past No. 20 Endicott, 86-82

BEVERLY, Mass. — The No. 20 Endicott men's basketball team fell to the visiting Bridgewater St. Bears, 86-82, in non-conference action Saturday afternoon inside MacDonald Gymnasium.

In a game that saw six tied scores and 15 lead changes, fans were treated to a back-and-forth affair all the way down to the end as Endicott maintained an 82-78 lead with 1:09 left in the game when senior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) nailed a pair of free throws for the last of his game-high 25 points.

However, senior guard Keyon Armstrong (Brockton, Mass.) was fouled with 55 seconds left as he was attempting a three-pointer and converted all three at the charity stripe to bring it within one, trailing 82-81.

A Gulls' turnover with 15 seconds remaining proved costly as junior guard Rocky DeAndrade (Mansfield, Mass.) made the go-ahead layup for the Bears and hit three free throws down the stretch to snap Endicott's five-game win streak.

With the loss, the Gulls head into the holiday break at 6-2 overall (3-0 CCC), while Bridgewater St. moves to 6-3 (0-0 MASCAC) on the season.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott placed four student-athletes in double figures as Walker led the charge with a game-high 25 points, game-high nine rebounds, and game-high seven assists.
• Senior forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) chipped in a season-high 22 points, followed by senior guard Max Motroni's (West Warwick, R.I.) 13 points and senior forward Chris Lipscomb's (West Springfield, Mass.) 11 points.
• Endicott's largest lead of the game was seven points with 4:41 left in the first half.
• The Gulls turned the ball over a season-high 19 times (including three with under 30 seconds remaining and a chance to take back the lead) and grabbed a season-low 31 rebounds.
• Before the game, Endicott honored Motroni in a pregame ceremony for scoring his 1,000th career point on March 4, 2016 in the Gulls' first-ever NCAA victory against Catholic University of America and becoming Endicott's 15th student-athlete to reach the milestone and only fifth to do so as a junior last season.

FOR THE FOES

• Bridgewater St. placed four student-athletes in double figures as junior forward Joseph Carty (Natick, Mass.) led the Bears with a team-high 19 points, followed by 17 points from DeAndrade, 16 points from Fawaz Mass (Taunton, Mass.) and 12 from senior guard Patrick McGuinness (New City, N.Y.).
• Mass grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while DeAndrade pulled down six boards and recorded a game-high five steals. 
• The Bears' largest lead of the game was seven points with 12:51 remaining in the first half.
• The Bears have won six of their past eight games and tied their longest win streak of the season with three straight victories.
• Bridgewater St. has won the past two meetings against Endicott as the most recent one before today was 01/10/2008.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Gulls (6-2, 3-0 CCC) are off for the holiday break and will resume action in the Salem St. Holiday Classic against the University of Southern Maine (December 29, 5:00 PM) and Regis (December 30, 5:00 PM).

Bridgewater St. (6-3, 0-0 MASCAC) is also off for the holiday break and will return to the hardwood in the Guilford College Holiday Classic against Greensboro (December 29, 5:00 PM) and Guildford (December 30, 7:00 PM).

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