Dinneen does damage late; Salve downs Endicott

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University junior Patrick Dinneen (Medfield, Mass.) hit a 3-pointer at 2:29 mark in second half to put the Seahawks ahead, 79-77, en route to a 90-79 victory over visiting Endicott College in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action.

Salve Regina (10-7; 6-4 CCC) trailed 75-74 following a 3-pointer by Gulls' leading scorer John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) with 3:35 remaining. Dinneen's free throws put the Seahawks back on top temporarily at 3:09 before Endicott senior Lance Greene (Dorchester, Mass.) hit a jumper in the paint for a 77-76 advantage.

On the ensuing Seahawk possession, senior William Smiley (Saunderstown, R.I.) fed Dinneen on the left side of the arc and the 6-foot-2 guard put Salve Regina ahead for good. Following a Gulls turnover, Dinneen handled the ball eight feet away from the top of the arc and looked into his classmate Jeff Bielefeld (Littleton, Mass.) for a potential lob pass.

Instead, Dinneen re-loaded and drained another 3-pointer.

Dinneen scored 11 points during the 16-4 run Salve Regina used to end the game. Similarly, he scored 10 of the team's last 19 points in a six-point victory, 84-78, when the teams met in Beverly, Mass., on November 28 earlier this season.

The first half featured 10 lead changes and one deadlock. Henault gave the visitors a 37-35 lead with 4:18 left in the period before the Seahawks went on an 11-0 run. Sophomore Brendan Canova (Edina, Minn.) collected five of those points from the free throw line.

Joshua Hohlfelder (Noank, Conn.) had two fast-break layups during the run to finish the first half as the leading scorer with 15 points. Sophomore Tell White (New Castle, N.H.) sank a jumper with four seconds left in the half to close the gap to 11 points, 48-37 in favor of Salve Regina.

Lachlan Magee (Melbourne, Australia) hit the first two baskets of the second half and Nick Mazzotta (North Granby, Conn.) later added a 3-pointer as Endicott (7-10; 2-8 CCC) closed within six, 50-44, at 16:31. Bielefeld built the lead back to a dozen (62-50) with three successive layups on the left side.

Greene engineered a 13-2 run for the Gulls with three layups of his own. Bennett Knowlton (Shrewsbury, Mass.) added a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to close within one, 64-63, with 9:17 left.

Smiley and Hohlfelder led all scorers with 21 points apiece. Smiley's 13 rebounds gave him his third double-double of the season and topped all players. Dinneen finished with 19 points and Bielefeld added 10 points.

Greene and Henault paced Endicott with 17 points apiece while Magee added 11 points in his second game back from an injury.

Salve Regina, which has won four of the last five meetings with Endicott including sweeping both season series the last two years, plays at University of New England on Saturday. The defending-champion Gulls, who bested the Seahawks in last year's title game (90-66), return to Rhode Island to face Roger Williams University on Saturday.