SALEM – A last second half court buzzer-beater from Elmira College’s Justin Henderson (Staten Island, N.Y.) stunned the Gulls, 62-59, to wrap up the Salem St. Holiday Classic in non-conference action Wednesday night inside Twohig Gymnasium.
With the loss, the Gulls fell to 4-5 overall, while Elmira improved to 2-7 on the season.
Endicott took a 30-22 lead into the break at halftime behind 12 points to from junior guard Kamahl Walker (Worcester, Mass.) to lead the floor as he finished with a game-high 19 points to extend his double-digit scoring streak to 21 games, dating back to Jan. 31, 2015 of last season.
The Gulls led by as much as 13, up 46-33 on a Walker layup with 13:46 left in the game and held a lead for 34:10 of the contest, but the Soaring Eagles outscored Endicott, 40-29, in the second half and had two clutch three-pointers down the stretch to steal the victory.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Gulls placed three student-athletes in double figures, as junior guard Max Motroni (West Warwick, R.I.) and junior forward Daquan Sampson (Germantown, Md.) tallied 14 points and 13 points, respectively. Motroni connected on 3-of-6 from downtown.
- Walker was named Classic Team MVP for Endicott, while Henderson took home Classic Team MVP honors for Elimira.
- Walker’s career points total currently sits at 1,023, one night after he eclipsed 1,000 points in the team’s 87-83 loss to host Salem St.
- This was the first time all season that the Gulls have dropped back to back games and Endicott scored its lowest point total of the season.
FOR THE FOES
- The Soaring Eagles produced a 44-34 margin on the boards – including a game-high 13 rebounds (eight offensive) from senior forward John Mullane (Norfolk, Mass.).
- Senior guard Gino Leonardi (Spencer, N.Y.) led Elmira with 18 points to go with six rebounds as he hit a game-tying three-pointer with eight seconds remaining in regulation.
- Tonight’s hero, senior guard and captain Henderson chipped in 13 points.
- It was Elmira’s first win since the team’s 93-88 overtime victory versus Chatham University in the Carnegie Mellon Invitational on Nov. 29, 2015.
NOTES
- The Gulls are now 0-2 all-time against Elmira, as the most previous meeting before tonight was a 95-88 loss on Dec. 1, 1996.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (4-5) will open the 2016 schedule with its last non-conference game of the regular season when the Gulls host Middlebury College (5-5) on Saturday, January 2 at 2:00 p.m. in Beverly, Mass., while Elmira (2-7) welcomes Stevens Institute of Technology on Monday, January 4 at 2:00 p.m. as the Soaring Eagles open Empire 8 play.
Information supplied by Endicott College Sports Information
