PHOTO BY ERIN STANTON
Lynn native Marcos Echevarria averaged 23.4 points per game for the Nichols Bison this season.
By JOSHUA KUMMINS
There is no size for motivation.
For Lynn’s Marcos Echevarria, it came in the form of two missed free throws in the final seconds of the Nichols College men’s basketball team’s Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinal against Endicott last season.
The result? An 82-80 loss.
“It was definitely a blessing in disguise,” the sophomore point guard said.
“Missing those free throws made me work hard over the offseason. It just goes to show that if you really put your mind to something, anything is possible. I had a chip on my shoulder this year, and it made me feel like I had something to prove.”
Prove, he did. Echevarria was named CCC Player of the Year and finished the season as the league’s leading scorer, first among all New Englanders in the Division III ranks and among the top 10 nationally, averaging 23.4 points per game.
Echevarria, who played high school basketball at both St. John’s Prep and St. Mark’s School in Southborough, scored at least 20 points in 21 games this season and 30 or more seven times. He also averaged four rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.2 steals per contest.
While the team’s success was Echevarria’s ultimate goal, he couldn’t help but take a step back to appreciate the individual season he’s had.
“To be recognized like that, it’s nothing to take lightly,” Echevarria said. “I always tell my little brother (Jalen, a current standout at St. Mary’s) that if you work hard enough you’re going to get recognized. Even if it doesn’t get recognized in the moment, it will during game time. I just like to be really humble about it, and happy with what I’ve accomplished.”
Nichols and Endicott played for the CCC title last Saturday, and it was hard not to notice Echevarria. This year’s results were drastically different, as Echevarria scored eight of his 23 points in the final 40 seconds as Nichols turned a seven-point deficit into its first-ever conference championship with a 67-64 win.
That game did not get off to the best of starts for Echevarria, as he shot just 4-of-20 before connecting on three of his final five field goal attempts. Oh, and he knocked down two free throws with two seconds left in regulation.
“In the final two minutes, he just put us on his back,” Nichols head coach Tom Glynn said. “He was the most composed person in the whole gym, and he just delivered. It was an absolutely epic performance, probably the best individual performance I’ve ever witnessed.”
The CCC victory helped lift the Bison to their first NCAA Tournament in program history, and a stunning first-round upset of host Neumann, 96-93. Echevarria scored 18 points, including all 10 of his free throws.
“It’s definitely an incredible experience being the first team in (Nichols) history to make the NCAA Tournament,” Echevarria said. “To lose the way that we lost last year and to win the way that we won this year, it was amazing. I couldn’t ask for more.”
With the win over the nation’s then-No. 11 team on its home floor in Aston, Pa., the Bison advanced to play a familiar foe: Endicott. This time, Nichols’ season came to an end at 24-6 with a 111-75 loss, but Echevarria scored a team-high 30 points, including 18 from beyond the arc.
The Gulls feature a fellow Lynn native in senior Stephen Basden, who posted seven points and five rebounds in the NCAA second round game after grabbing 10 rebounds in the CCC title game.
The memories flooded back for Echevarria, and the two embraced at the end of the conference tournament.
“It was a definitely a childhood rivalry we have, so it’s amazing we got to play against him in that type of atmosphere,” Echevarria said. “After that game (CCC Championship Game), I told him, ‘Hey, keep your head up. You had a great season.’ Last year, they kind of stole it away from us, so we kind of got revenge. … The NCAA game (was) just one more game to settle the rivalry.”
While their second postseason meeting went in Basden’s favor, Echevarria can keep his head held high this time.
Names and notes
- Marblehead’s Jake Kulevich scored goals in two of the Colgate University hockey team’s three ECAC Hockey postseason games against Princeton this weekend, including the winner in Friday’s 3-2 overtime win. The Raiders lost the series in three games, but Kulevich finished the year with a career-high six goals and became the first defenseman to lead Colgate in scoring since at least the 1999-2000 season with 22 points.
- Medford’s John Needham scored two goals, including the eventual game-winner in the Salem State hockey team’s 4-3 win over top-seeded host Plymouth State in Saturday night’s Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) title game. The Vikings have won four MASCAC titles since 2010.
- St. Mary’s graduate Jennie Mucciarone of North Reading recorded 11 points, six rebounds and an assist as the Tufts University women’s basketball team opened its NCAA Tournament run with a 65-44 win over Saint Joseph’s College of Maine on Friday night.
- In other NCAA action on Friday, Salem State senior Marcus Faison of Cambridge became the seventh player in Vikings’ men’s basketball history to reach 1,000 career points as he scored a game-high 30 in an 84-81 loss to No. 14 Tufts in Pittsford, N.Y.
- Peabody’s Marcus Vieira and Anthony Christo of the Worcester State track and field team competed in the weight throw at Saturday’s Tufts Final Qualifying Meet, with Vieira placing fourth (17.32m) and Christo eighth (15.46m). Phill Bynum, another former Tanner, clocked in at 7:28.13 in the 60-meter dash to earn MASCAC Rookie of the Week.
- Danvers’ Ryan Kelleher was named MASCAC Player of the Week in baseball after going 11-for-16 with a home run, a double, four RBI and six runs scored in four games for Bridgewater State, including a seven-hit doubleheader against Hilbert.
- Peabody’s Bobby Tramondozzi pitched a scoreless inning and struck out two in the UMass Boston baseball team’s season-opening, 11-6 win over Lasell last Thursday.
- Saugus’ Kyle Autilio struck out four over 5.2 innings in his first start for the Assumption College baseball team on Sunday, but lost to Rollins College.
