Gulls Fly Past Vikings, 77-63

SALEM, Mass. – Salem State men's basketball hosted cross town foe, Endicott College, for their second matchup against the Gulls this season. After a back and forth first half of action a second half run by the Gulls paced them to the 77-63 victory over the Vikings, dropping Salem to 3-8 on the season.

Conner Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) led the Vikings with a 14- point and 13 rebound double- double while Juvens Louis (Everett, Mass.) added 14 points in the effort.

For the visitors, Jalen Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) led his team with 18 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Mark Barrett (Brookline, Mass.) and Jeff Hill (Lynn, Mass.) added 15 and 12 points, respectively.

After a slow start from both sides the Vikings were able to get a four-point edge after aggressive drives to the basket brought the game to 14-10 and forced the Gulls to regroup with a timeout. The Gulls were able to find the bottom of the basket coming out of the timeout, but Salem benefited more from the break as they found themselves on top by nine (21-14) after Liam Byrne (Melrose, Mass.) converted an and one to distance his squad. Three minutes later, Hill scored five straight points for the Gulls to tie the game at 24 with 6:30 to play in the half. This burst gave Endicott momentum to reclaim the lead and find themselves ahead by as many as seven points before Salem was able to mount a comeback. With under a minute to play in the half, Barrett hit a three to edge the Gulls by just as many before Louis landed a three of his own to send the game into the break at 37 all.

The Gulls opened the half on a 5-0 run to take the 42-37 advantage before Chris MacDonald's (Wakefield, Mass.) jumper brought the Vikings within three points. The Gulls were able to answer with another run of their own which paced them to a 10- point advantage (53-43) with 15 minutes to play in the game. Once again, MacDonald helped his team chip away and get within eight but Endicott followed with a 17-6 run, capped off by back-to-back electrifying dunks, to give them the 22 point lead (75-53) with under eight minutes to play. The Vikings used a timeout of their own to mount a comeback, stringing together ten unanswered points to bring the deficit to 12 with just over three minutes left. Despite Salem's best effort, 12 would be as close as they would get, as the Gulls went on to take the eventual 77-63 victory over the Vikings.