No. 14 Men's Basketball Goes Wire-To-Wire Over UNE, 103-72

BIDDEFORD, Maine — The No. 14 nationally ranked Endicott men's basketball team went wire-to-wire against the University of New England (UNE), 103-72, in Wednesday evening's Conference of New England (CNE) matchup from inside the Harold Alfond Forum.

Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) and Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) led the way with 22 points apiece. Montagnino shot 8-17 from the field (2-5 3PT, 4-4 FT) and nabbed seven rebounds and three assists, while Kinney shot 7-9 from the field (2-2 3PT, 6-8 FT) secured five rebounds, and swatted two blocks.

Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.) netted 14 points on 6-8 shooting (2-2 3PT), while Andrew Mitchell (Roxbury, Mass.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with a 12-point (5-7 FG, 2-2 3PT) evening.

The Gulls ran out to a 10-0 run over the first 2:30 of play. A triple from Hill, layups from Sullivan and Montagnino, and a trio of free throws from Kinney gave the Gulls the early edge.

That lead remained between the 8-10 range until around seven minutes remained in the first half.

At the 6:57 mark, Mitchell connected on a triple that kicked off a 25-12 Endicott burst to close the half. Montagnino paced the Blue and Green with 11 points during that stretch, and Endicott headed into halftime up 52-31.

Montagnino led all scorers with 17 points at the break.

Out of the break, the two teams traded baskets initially. At the 15:18 mark, Kinney knocked down a three-pointer to ignite a 12-5 spurt for the Gulls, which allowed them to expand the lead to 29.

The Nor'easters followed with a brief 9-2 run to make it 77-55. 

However, Endicott immediately answered with a 15-6 response to go up 31 (92-61) with 5:43 remaining. Mitchell capped off the burst with a triple.

The rest of the way, the bench group of Joey DaSilva (Windham, N.H.), Max Grenert (Beverly, Mass.), and Jack Lewis (Clinton, Mass.) brought the Gulls to the finish line in the 103-72 victory.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls lead the all-time series over the Nor'Easters, 35-12.
• In its last six matchups with UNE, Endicott is averaging 97 points per game.
• Tonight's win was Endicott's 15th consecutive, which broke the program's winning streak record.
• Mitchell's 12 points set a new career high.
• Second consecutive 100+ point outing for the Gulls (third this season).

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 14 Endicott (21-1, 13-0 CNE) welcomes Hartford to MacDonald Gymnasium on Saturday in a 3 PM CNE tipoff. UNE (11-11, 7-6 CNE) heads to Suffolk on Saturday for a 2 PM CNE matchup. 

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(Photo Credit - Dominic O'Connor '27)