Men's Basketball Thumps Baruch, 99-73

BOSTON, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team handled Baruch, 99-73, in Saturday evening's Emmanuel Tip-Off Classic contest from the Jean Yawkey Center.

Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) and Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) once again led the way for the Gulls in the win.

Montagnino flirted with a triple-double (26 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, three steals), while Kinney posted a 19-point, 17-rebound monster double-double performance. 

In his second career outing, Caden Sullivan (Franklin, Mass.) strung together another impressive performance. He scored 12 points (3-6 3PT, 3-4 FT), hauled down four rebounds, and dished out four assists in 26 minutes.

The Gulls jumped out to a quick 16-8 lead over the first six minutes of play, cultivated by four straight layups between the duo of Kinney and Montagnino.

They quickly expanded that lead to 15 after AJ Forte (Peabody, Mass.) drained a corner three and Andrew Mitchell (Roxbury, Mass.) broke loose for back-to-back highlight finesse finishes at the rim (26-13; 11:25 to play in the half).

The two teams traded baskets over the next several sequences, and eventually, the Bearcats were able to claw their way back within a few possessions (33-26). However, two canned three's by Forte and a corner triple by Cam Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.) pushed the lead back up to 13 (43-30) with under four minutes to play in the half.

A few late baskets by the Bearcats got them back within 10, and the two teams headed to the break with the Gulls in front, 48-40.

The Gulls opened the half on a 20-6 run to stretch their lead to 22 with 13:11 remaining. Two triples from Sullivan, a turnaround jumper from Mitchell, and a series of free throws from Montagnino and Boen molded the surge.

A steady diet of Montagnino down the stretch along with some outside marksmanship from Joey DaSilva (Windham, N.H.), Max Grenert (Beverly, Mass.), and Reece Goodman (Binghamton, N.Y.) closed the door on the Bearcats, finishing out the dominant victory by a 99-73 score.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• First ever meeting between the two programs.
• Kinney's 17 rebounds were tied for sixth most in single-game program history. He was one off of his career high 18.
• Kinney secured a double-double in the first half alone, as he headed to the break with 13 points and 13 boards to his name.
• Montagnino shot a blistering 10-17 from the field and two-for-five from deep.
• The Blue and Green outscored the Bearcats 23-6 on the fast break.
• The Gulls never trailed in the matchup.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (2-0) welcomes MIT on Wednesday at 7 PM for its home opener. Baruch (1-1) heads to SUNY Maritime on Wednesday for a 7 PM non-conference clash. 

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(Photo Credit - Kaeli Talora '25)