Men's Basketball Triumphs Over No. 4 Tufts, 76-73

BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team topped No. 4 nationally ranked Tufts, 76-73, in Sunday afternoon's non-conference showdown from MacDonald Gymnasium.

Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) and Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) each showed out for the Gulls in the win. The two combined for 56 points out of Endicott's 76 total points (73.7% of scoring) on the afternoon.

Montagnino boasted a stat line of 28 points (11-19 FG, 2-3 3PT, 4-7 FT), nine rebounds, four steals and an assist, while Kinney posted 28 points (9-21 FG, 10-10 FT) and hauled down 13 boards.

Caden Sullivan (Franklin, Mass.) and AJ Forte (Peabody, Mass.) each knocked down a pair of three-pointers and also supplied some gritty defensive work in addition to their eight- and six-point efforts, respectively.

After the Jumbos converted back-to-back baskets to start the contest, the Gulls responded in a loud way via a Sullivan mid-range jumper and a Kinney poster-slam off an inbound to make it a 5-4 game through two-and-a-half minutes of play.

A few minutes later, the Blue and Green took their first lead of the game thanks to a Cam Keliher (South Hampton, N.H.) triple off of Kinney's feed. The two teams flipped lead changes on each of the next three buckets until a Montagnino straightaway three put the Gulls up 14-10 at the 13:20 mark of the first half.

From that point, the Gulls went on a 14-2 run (13:41-9:00) to pull ahead by 11 (23-12). A triple from Forte and four points from Sullivan highlighted the spurt.

The Jumbos got back within two possessions, but a Montagnino drive and finish pushed Endicott's lead back to seven (27-20). However, the Jumbos ended the half on a strong note and evened things up at 35 heading to the break thanks to their 15-8 closing run (final 5:35).

In the second half, the two teams traded baskets, and neither side took more than a two-possession lead until just 5:10 remained, when Kinney capitalized on a hustle steal from Montagnino with a beautiful drive and finish at the rim (63-56). 

On the next trip down, Montagnino splashed another from downtown to put the Gulls up eight (66-58).

Endicott continued to hold Tufts down by a few possessions until the Jumbos knocked down three consecutive three-pointers to pull within two (72-70, 18 seconds remaining).

The Jumbos immediately fouled Sullivan, and the freshman knocked down both freebies in the clutch to put the Gulls back up by two possessions.

On the other end, Montagnino and Kinney teamed up to dispossess the Jumbos on their inbound, and two more free throws for Kinney put the Gulls up 76-70.

A desparation triple fell for the visitors with 0.4 seconds remaining, but a clean inbound delivered Endicott its key 76-73 home victory.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• First win for the Gulls against Tufts in six all-time matchups.
• First win over a ranked opponent since 11/15/18 (90-73 win over No. 5 MIT).
• With Kinney's 10-10 performance at the line today, he is shooting a blistering 96.3% on the season (26-27).
• Endicott led for 29:32 of the contest, while Tufts led for just 4:55.
• Third double-double for Kinney this season.
• The Gulls held D3hoops.com Preseason All-American Scott Gyimesi (Fair Haven, N.J.) to just two points (1-7 FG). He fouled out after 26 minutes played.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (4-0) welcomes Nichols to MacDonald Gymnasium in the Conference of New England (CNE) opener this Wednesday at 7:30 PM. Tufts (0-2) hosts Suffolk on Tuesday, November 18th for a 7 PM contest. 

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(Photo Credit - Mike Kiselka '29)