Men’s Basketball Comes Back to Defeat Endicott, 86-82

BOSTON – Suffolk men's basketball stormed back from a 16-point, second-half deficit to clip Endicott, 86-82, Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 86 | Endicott 82
RECORDS: Suffolk (11-2, 6-1 CCC) | Endicott (6-4, 3-2 CCC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Things remained even early with the score locked at 9-all five minutes into the action. Endicott got energized behind a 7-0 stretch to a 16-9 lead before Nate Hale took matters into his own hands. Suffolk's graduate student went on his own 8-0 run to put the blue-and-gold in front, 17-16, at the 11:02 minute mark. 

Hale and the Gulls went shot-for-show over the next few minutes. In that time, the lead swapped three times with Jalen Echevarria's lay-up at the midway point giving Endicott the go-ahead, 21-20. That hoop jump started an 11-2 spurt that was capped by a monster dunk by Dillon Grant that pushed the distance to eight, 30-22, with 5:52 to go before half time. 

On Suffolk's next possession, Hale hit his fifth three of the game to keep Suffolk within striking distance. That five-point margin would not get any smaller over the final five minutes of the opening half as Endicott responded to each of the blue-and-gold's efforts to take a 12-point lead, 46-34, into the locker room. 

Aidan Sullivan knocked down a trey on the Suffolk's first possession out of the break. That bucket looked to ignite the Rams, instead, the Gulls offense got going and extended its advantage to 58-42, 4:29 into the second half.  

The Rams underclassmen, Keenan Robertson and Cole LeVangie, stepped up for Suffolk. The freshmen compiled eight unanswered points. Robertson started the run with a layup and LeVangie followed suit with a traditional three-point play and a triple to cut the deficit to eight, 58-50. 

Things stayed that way until the Gulls were whistled for a foul and a technical, which gave the Rams two trips to the line, two shots for Hale and one-and-one for Robertson. Hale converted his trip to the free throw line into two points and a six-point game, 66-60, stood with 10:51 left in regulation. 

The Rams got the gap down to four, twice, but once against Endicott engines got going and the visitors restored their double-digit advantage, 74-64, with 7:36 on the clock. 

With just under six minutes to play, Sullivan converted a traditional three-point play to spark Suffolk. The junior bookended buckets on the 11-0 Rams run that gave Suffolk the lead, 77-76, at the 2:54 minute mark. 

From there, the lead would flip twice and the score leveled once more at 80-all, before Sullivan knocked down two freebies. On the other end Spencer Aronson missed a crucial 3-pointer, which allowed Sullivan to sink a layup and push the Rams edge to four, 84-80, with 31 seconds to go.  

After Echevarria made a lay-up to slice matters back to two, the Gulls gambled with the foul game and sent Suffolk to the win the game at the line. Hale did not succumb to the pressure and made the free throws with 15 seconds to restore the four-point advantage.   

Endicott had two chances to cut matters down to one as seconds ticked off the clock, but both shots were off the mark, which allowed Suffolk to secure the victory.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Hale finished with 27 points on a 9-for-14 showing from the field, which included a 5-for-6 performance from 3-point land. He added four rebounds, three steals, one assist and block to his stat line. 
• Sullivan supplied 20 points on a 7-for-13 effort from the floor with five caroms, five helpers and three takeaways. 
• Robertson and William Rowe both had 12 points. The former added seven boards and one dime, while the latter chipped in three rebounds, three assists, one block and one takeaway. 
• LeVangie contributed a crucial eight points off the bench. 
• Suffolk shot 54.7 percent (29-53) the day with a 41.2 percent (7-17) conversion rate at the line. 
• The Rams shot 91.3 percent (21-23) from the free throw line. 
• Suffolk outrebounded Endicott, 37-35.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk leveled the all-time series with Endicott at 2-2.
• The Rams are unbeaten, 2-0, versus the Gulls in Boston. 

POST-GAME PIC 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk hits the road next week with its first stop at Salve Regina Wednesday, Jan. 19 for a 7:30 p.m. conference clash.