BEVERLY — Endicott College men’s basketball team freshman guard Jalen Echevarria of Lynn, and head coach Kevin Bettencourt of Peabody headlined the group of Commonwealth Coast Conference end-of-season award winners announced by the CCC this week.
Echevarria was named CCC Rookie of the Year, while Bettencourt earned CCC Coach of the Year honors.
Neither honoree had much time to sit back and enjoy their awards.
The No.1 Gulls got back to business and opened the CCC tournament Thursday night at home with a come-from-behind 63-62 win in the semifinals over No. 5 Wentworth.
Sophomore point guard Billy Arseneault of Lynnfield (11 points) was the man of the hour, hitting the game-winning bucket at the buzzer.
With the win, the Gulls advance to Saturday’s championship game at home against three-time defending champion Nichols (TBD).
Bettencourt said it is an honor to receive the Coach of the Year Award.
“It is an honor considering the amount of quality coaches that our league has,” said Bettencourt. “I’m more proud of what that recognition represents and that is that our team achieved well so far this season. It truly is a team award and there are a lot of people that had a hand in it.”
The 5’9″ Echevarria, a former St. Mary’s standout, played in all 25 games this season for the Gulls, starting in 24, and averaging a team-high 31.2 minutes a game.
The CCC Player of the Week (Jan. 27) and five-time CCC Rookie of the Week, Echevarria led the team in field goal percentage, shooting 50 percent from the floor, was third in points with an average of 15.1 per game, and was also third in assists with 68. He also ranked fifth in rebounding with 72 boards.
Echevarria scored 20 or more points in eight games this season.
“Jalen had provided a great energy and competitiveness to our program from the second he walked on campus,” said Bettencourt. “He comes from a great basketball family and he earned everything he achieved this season. I never try and put too high of expectations on a first-year player, but we knew we were getting a good one when Jalen decided to become a Gull. He is a great teammate and really looking forward to watching his development moving forward.”
At St. Mary’s, while playing for his uncle, coach Dave Brown, Echevarria won a Division 4 state championship as a freshman and made four consecutive tournament appearances. He cracked the 1,000-career points mark as a senior.
For Bettencourt, this was his second Coach of the Year award, having been previously named in 2016-2017.
The sixth-year coach led Endicott to an 18-7 overall record in the 2019-20 regular season, and a 12-4 record in CCC play.
Under Bettencourt’s tutelage, the Gulls ranked first in the conference in three-point percentage (39.1) and three-point field goals made (315), second in assists per game (18.8) third in points per game (86.8), and fourth in field goal percentage (46.8).
Nationally, the Gulls ranked second in assists-to-turnover ratio (1.81), seventh in three-point field goals made (315), 11th in assists per game (18.8), and 14th in three-point field goal percentage (39.1).
Bettencourt led the Gulls to six CCC tournament appearances, four CCC tournament championship games, and two CCC tournament championships.
Through this year’s regular season, Bettencourt has compiled an overall record of 102-42 (.708).
Bettencourt led the Gulls to three consecutive NCAA Division III tournaments (2015-2017), reaching the second round in 2016 and 2017 and the Sweet 16 in 2017.
A four-year varsity starter at Bucknell University, Bettencourt ranks fifth all-time in scoring with 1,577 points and second all-time in three-pointers with 294. A member of the Bucknell Athletics and Peabody High Athletics Hall of Fame, he was the Chevrolet Player of the Game in the Bisons’ upset wins over Kansas (2005) and Arkansas (2006) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. A three-time Second-Team All-Patriot League selection, he was the 2003 Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
