The Gulls came out flying, scoring the first 14 points of the game, backboned by a pair of trifectas and a layup from Ellis. The Leopards would score their first points of the game with 14:58 left on a layup from junior forward Bryan Gaine (Braintree, Mass.). Endicott pushed its lead to 19 on a pair of occasions, including with 9:12 left before Wentworth used a 9-2 run to trim the gap to 12 (27-15) with 6:06 left. The Gulls would get the lead back to 19 before settling for a 36-21 halftime advantage. During the first 20:00, Endicott shot an astounding 78.9 percent (15-for-19) from the floor, while holding the Leopards to just 7-for-31 (22.6 percent) shooting.
Wentworth opened the second stanza on a 6-0 run to close the gap to single digits (36-27) for the first time since early in the first half, but Endicott responded with a 17-6 spurt over the next 10:00 to increase its lead to 20 (55-35). The Leopards made one last run at it, trimming the lead to 13 (55-42) with 4:03 to play, but the Gulls would respond with a 7-2 run to bring the lead back to 18. Despite turning the ball over 27 times, the Gulls shot 64.1 percent from the floor, while holding the hosts to 32.1 percent.
In addition to Ellis and George, junior forward Nemanja Marinkovic (Belgrade, SERBIA) had 10 points and six rebounds as Endicott improved to 8-5 overall and 5-0 in Commonwealth Coast Conference play. Gaine led the Leopards with 14 points and six rebounds, while sophomore guard Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (Norwalk, Conn.) and freshman guard Todd Doyle (Mystic Conn.) had 11 apiece. Doyle also dished out five assists for Wentworth, which suffered its first home loss of the season and falls to 8-6 (4-2 CCC).
Both teams are back in action on Saturday. Endicott hosts Anna Maria, while Wentworth travels to New England College.
At Boston, Mass. (Tansey Gymnasium) ENDICOTT 62, WENTWORTH 47 ENDICOTT (8-5, 5-0 CCC) Zach Ellis 5-7 0-0 14; Matt George 5-7 3-3 13; Nemanja Marinkovic 4-8 2-2 10; JM Ramsey 2-2 0-0 6; Gary Corbett 2-3 0-0 5; Mike Sullivan 2-2 0-0 4; Joey Burgos 2-4 0-0 4; Todd Burton 2-2 0-0 4; Mike Lambert 1-2 0-1 2; Francis Mayi 0-1 0-0 0; Joe Sheehan 0-0 0-0 0; Ross Stewart 0-1 0-0 0; Brandon Diaz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-39 5-6 62. WENTWORTH (8-6, 4-2 CCC) Bryan Gaine 7-12 0-0 14; Todd Doyle 3-8 4-4 11; Sherrad Prezzie-Blue 2-9 6-8 11; Weonard Bynes 2-2 1-2 5; Frankie Hall 2-11 0-0 4; Jason DaCosta 1-4 0-0 2; Vin Milano 0-1 0-0 0; Jeff Cappa 0-2 0-2 0; Gil Ward 0-0 0-0 0; Brad Bryant 0-3 0-0 0; Ed Bolton 0-0 0-0 0; Rob Fernandes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-53 11-16 47. Endicott...................... 36 26 - 62 Wentworth..................... 21 26 - 47 3-point goals-Endicott 7-9 (Zach Ellis 4-5; JM Ramsey 2-2; Gary Corbett 1-1; Ross Stewart 0-1), Wentworth 2-11 (Todd Doyle 1-4; Sherrad Prezzie-Blue 1-3; Jeff Cappa 0-1; Brad Bryant 0-2; Rob Fernandes 0-1). Fouled out--Endicott-None, Wentworth-Jason DaCosta. Rebounds-Endicott 29 (Nemanja Marinkovic 6; Joey Burgos 6), Wentworth 24 (Weonard Bynes 7). Assists-Endicott 16 (Matt George 7), Wentworth 12 (Todd Doyle 5). Total fouls-Endicott 16, Wentworth 14.