Endicott (5-4), coming off last year’s school-record 23-win season, trailed by 16 points eigth minutes into the game and by 13, 39-26 at halftime before rallying to score 13 straight points and defeat Eastern (4-8) for the third straight season.
Oxton’s two free throws had given Endicott a four-point lead late in regulation but the Warriors forced overtime when senior forward Mike Bartunek (DURHAM) later swished his third three-point field goal of the game with 15.7 seconds to tie the game, 58-58.
An inside bucket by senior forward Jeroy Smith (NEW HAVEN) and two free throws by junior guard Michael Stallings (WATERBURY) staked Eastern to an early four-point lead in overtime but Oxton countered by scoring a basket while being fouled and hitting the free throw to pull Endicott to within one. Junior guard Zach Ellis (Westford, MA) then gave Endicott the lead for good, 65-64 by scoring a basket with 29 seconds left. With Eastern trailing by one with 1.8 seconds left, first-year sophomore guard Geoffrey Richardson (HARTFORD) stole Endicott’s long in-bound pass but couldn’t convert a long three-point attempt as the final horn sounded.
Senior guard Antwoine Key (BOSTON) scored Eastern’s first six points and 11 of his career-high 13 points in the first half as the Warriors used 57.1 per cent shooting to race to a 16-point, 26-10 lead eight minutes into the game.
The Warriors led by 13, 39-26 and by 11, 53-42 with less than nine minutes left in the game before the Gulls scored 13 straight points to surge to a 55-53 lead withi three minutes left. On eight possessions in that span, Eastern turned the ball over four times and missed three field goals and one free throw. Oxton scored ten of his team’s 13 points in the run, with Ellis canning his only three-pointer of the game on seven tries to account for the other three points. The Warriors missed six of 11 free throws in the second half.
Oxton, who was 8-for-11 from the floor and 9-for-12 from the floor, was followed in double figures by Ellis (14), sophomore forward Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, Serbia) (11) and junior forward Matt George (Dover, NH) (10). Marinkovic used perfect shooting (4-for-4 FG, 2-for-2 FT) to score 11 of his team’s 26 first-half points.
Stallings (14), Key (13) and Barunek (11) led the Warriors, with Bartunek recording his first career double-double with a game-high ten rebounds. Smith had eight points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Eastern returns to Little East