When the Jumbos head to Cortland State's Corey Gymnasium for Friday night's NCAA tournament opener, they will face an unfamiliar opponent - the Endicott Gulls.
Endicott College, a small school in nearby Beverly, Mass., brings a 19-9 record (13-3 CCC) to Cortland. The Gulls are young, but are experienced in postseason play; they are fresh off their third consecutive Commonwealth Coast Conference championship and will be making their fourth NCAA appearance in the brief history of their school's basketball program.
The team is led by a pair of seniors, Matt George (6'3") and Zach Ellis (5'11"), and a standout junior, Nemanja Marinkovic (6'4").
George, a two-time CCC Player of the Week in the 2005-2006 season, has averaged 23.7 points per game in the postseason thus far, far suprassing his season-average 14.0 and leading the Gulls' charge into March Madness. He also had team-leading totals of 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game.
Ellis, the team's point guard, is one of the nation's best three-point shooters. He led the CCC with 70 treys this season for an average of 11.1 ppg. Marinkovic turned in a strong junior year, leading the team in both scoring, with 14.1 ppg, and rebounding, pulling down an impressive 8.6 boards per contest despite his short stature.
The Gulls are led by young coach Chris Millette, who was an assistant at Tufts under coach Bob Sheldon from 2001-2003. He recruited and coached several of the upperclassmen on this year's Tufts team.
After first-round losses to Western Connecticut in last year's NCAA tourney and Babson in 2004, Endicott will be fighting hard for a chance to go deeper in 2006.
