CNE SEMIFINALS: No. 1 Endicott Edges No. 4 Nichols In Playoff Classic, 78-75

BEVERLY, Mass. — The first-seeded Endicott men's basketball team defeated fourth-seeded Nichols, 78-75, in the Conference of New England (CNE) Tournament semifinal round on Friday night in front of a raucous sellout crowd at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) filled the stat sheet with 22 points, 17 rebounds (game-high), six steals, and three blocks to highlight the No. 13 nationally ranked Gulls.

Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) compiled a game-high 30 points (12-for-20 FG, 2-5 3PT, 4-4 FT), while Caden Sullivan (Franklin, Mass.) notched 14 points to round out the list of double-digit scorers.

Matt Boen (Mansfield, Mass.) also contributed eight points, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal to the victory.

SECOND HALF

Trailing 73-70 with 2:37 remaining, the Gulls closed out yet another contest with poise and grit, executing an 8-2 run to punch their ticket to the CNE Championship for the first time since 2019-20. 

Montagnino registered four points during the stretch — including the final lead-changing layup with 21 seconds remaining — while Kinney and Sullivan buried a pair of free throws.

Montagnino also punctuated the victory by blocking Nichols' game-tying three-point bid, sending the packed MacDonald Gymnasium crowd into a frenzy.

Endicott trailed by as many as six points in the half (51-45, 15:33), but the Gulls responded with their biggest run of the contest (10 points) to take a 55-51 advantage with 12:58 to play.

Kinney produced a team-high five points during the spurt, while Sullivan canned a three-pointer at 13:52 (53-51) before Boen capped the run with a driving layup.

From there, the score was tied three times (57-57, 10:26 | 63-63, 7:43 | 65-65, 5:17) before Endicott pulled away with the win. 

In total, the second half featured six ties and nine lead changes. Both teams led for exactly 8:30 each in the stanza.

FIRST HALF

The Gulls led for 15:22 in the first stanza, but Nichols came away with a slim 43-41 advantage at the break. The first half only featured two ties and four lead changes.

Endicott jumped out to a half-high 11-point margin early in the contest (13:12) before the Bison brought the game within two (24-22) just past the midway point (9:27). 

The heavyweight matchup went blow for blow from there, until Nichols squared up the festivities at 33-33 with 4:29 to play.

Down 35-33 (3:55), Endicott countered with baskets by Kinney and Boen to reclaim the lead with 2:05 on the clock. 

Nichols wasted little time drawing up a rebuttal, sinking consecutive treys on its next two possessions for its largest lead of the half (41-37, 0:57).

Montagnino didn't allow the deficit to balloon any further, converting layups with 41 seconds (41-39) and three seconds (43-41) down the stretch.

Kinney nearly produced a double-double in the opening 20 minutes of play via 10 points and eight rebounds.

Montagnino paced all scorers with 12 points (5-7 FG, 2-3 3 PT), while Sullivan chipped in with nine to highlight the rest of the squad. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott leads the all-time series, 26-24 (won last five).
• The Gulls are 13-0 at home this season.
• Endicott extended its program-record win streak to 19 in a row.
• 25 wins is a new program-record mark, surpassing the previous single-season high of 24 wins set in 2016-17.
• Before tonight's matchup, Endicott had only trailed at halftime five times (4-1 record).
• The Gulls' largest halftime deficit this season is 16 points, coming against Colby (L, 93-89) and Salem State (W, 90-82).
• Nichols defeated fifth-seeded Roger Williams, 104-91, in the CNE First Round on Wednesday.
• The Bison suffered their first loss of the season (8-1) when draining 10 or more three-pointers (12-for-24, 50%) in a game.

WHAT'S NEXT

First-seeded Endicott (25-1) hosts second-seeded Western New England in the CNE Championship this Sunday at 1 PM. 

Fourth-seeded Nichols' comes to a close at 15-12 overall. 

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(Photo Credit - Michael Kiselka '29)