BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman forward Derek Mayo's (Casco, Maine) reverse layup with 1:24 remaining in regulation gave the Wentworth men's basketball team a 62-61 lead as the Leopards held on to defeat Endicott, 63-61, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference Semifinal game played at Tansey Gymnasium. With the win Wentworth advances to its first TCCC title game since 2007 and will host Salve Regina on Saturday night for TCCC championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Mayo put the Leopards on the board first with a basket 21 seconds into the contest, but that would be the only time the hosts would hold the lead until Mayo's late-game layup. Endicott scored the next six points, with freshman guard Tyler Burkhart (Cromwell, Conn.) tallying four. The Gulls would build their lead to three times with Wentworth knocking it down to one with four straight points each time.
After senior forward Sam Herrick (Duxbury, Mass.) hit consecutive baskets to trim the lead from 14-9 to 14-13 with 7:25 left in the half, Endicott used a 7-1 spurt to take its largest lead of the half at 21-14. Sophomore forward Corey Therriault (Auburn, Maine) buried a three to cut the lead to 21-17, but the Gulls would extend the lead to 10 at the half, 34-24. Over the course of the first 20 minutes, the visitors shot 63.6 percent from the floor and held Wentworth to 33.3 percent. Endicott also held a 17-9 rebounding advantage.
Wentworth opened the second half outscoring the Gulls, 9-4, with Herrick scoring six of the nine points. A junior forward Matt Harte (Troy, N.Y.) basket with 13:48 to play pulled Wentworth within four at 41-37, but Endicott answered with a trifecta from junior forward Aaron Karkow (Uncasville, Conn.). The teams traded baskets with Herrick's baseline jumper making it a 46-41 game with 11:57 left.
Endicott went on an 8-1 run and took its largest lead of the contest – 12 – on a senior forward Chris Galbraith (Lowell, Mass.) basket. After junior guard Adam Dombrowski (Dunstable, Mass.) drained a three to cut the lead to single digits, Galbraith hit one of two free throws to up the lead back to 10 with just under eight minutes left. Two free throws by Herrick and a three pointer by Therriault pulled the hosts within five with 5:55 to play.
The Gulls, who would be held without a field goal over the final 4:55 of the contest, pushed the lead back to seven on three occasions, including on a jumper by sophomore guard Lance Greene (Dorchester, Mass.) with 4:55 left. A Mayo basket on the next possession, followed by two free throws by Harte with 4:29 left trimmed the lead to 61-58. The two teams traded missed baskets before Wentworth gained possession on a Gull turnover with 3:20 left. Dombrowski cut the lead to one with a basket with 2:56 to play.
Endicott would turn the ball over with 2:19 left, and, out of a time out, Dombrowski missed a three pointer with the shot clock running down. However, Mayo got the offensive rebound and worked the clock before converting the go-ahead basket.
Greene took a shot with 1:04 left that was blocked by Herrick out of bounds. On the inbounds play, the Gulls turned the ball over, giving Wentworth the ball with 50 seconds left. A miss by Dombrowski led to the rebound going out of bounds off an Endicott player with 23.7 seconds left. Dombrowski was fouled with 13 ticks left and, after missing the first, hit the second to give Wentworth a two-point advantage.
The Gulls had two chances to tie the game in the waning seconds as freshman Lachlan Magee's (Melbourne, Australia) was blocked by Herrick. The rebound came to Karkow, who put up a mid-range jumper that fell short as time expired.
Herrick finished the game with a career-high 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting. He also had 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season to go along with a pair of assists and two blocks. Therriault had 13 points and five assists, while Dombrowski and Harte finished with eight apiece. The Leopards held the Gulls to 39.3 percent from the floor in the final stanza.
Magee paced the Gulls with 17 points, while Greene added 14. Karkow and junior forward Erik Callo (Southington, Conn.) had eight rebounds apiece for Endicott.
With the win Wentworth, winners of seven straight, improve to 18-9 on the season and advance to TCCC title game for the fifth time in program history. The Leopards will host the fifth-seeded Seahawks (16-10), who defeated top-seeded Anna Maria, 89-80. The two schools have met once before in the title game, with Salve Regina winning the 1989 championship, 74-70.
Endicott stands at 17-10 and will await word on a possible ECAC Tournament berth on Monday.
