BEVERLY — Two former Lynnfield High School basketball standouts were reunited this past winter season at Endicott College.
Billy Arseneault, a business marketing major, started his career at Assumption, but transferred to Endicott for his sophomore year, where he enjoyed a breakout season for the Gulls. They finished the season 19-8 following a heartbreaking 76-75 loss to Nichols College in the Commonwealth Coast Conference championship game.
“Billy has been a tremendous addition to our team this season,” said Endicott head coach Kevin Bettencourt. “We saw him play quite a bit while we were recruiting Lou Ellis and we were not able to get him out of high school, but were lucky he decided to transfer to us a year later.”
Junior Louis Ellis was also a key contributor to the Gulls this season, overcoming several nagging injuries that curtailed his playing time his first two years.
“Unfortunately, Louis has dealt with a string of minor injuries which has caused some inconsistencies outside of his control,” Bettencourt said. “But Lou has had a positive impact on the court when healthy this season.”
Arseneault — a 5-foot-11 point guard — started 24 of the Gulls’ 25 regular season games, averaging 9.3 points and 29.5 minutes a game, ranking fourth and second respectively on the team. He was third on the team in shooting percentage (48.4%) and three-point percentage (32.5%)
Bettencourt said Arseneault, who had a team-best 2.7 assists-to-turnovers ratio, is one of the reasons why the Gulls are ranked second in the nation in that category (1.81).
“We were second in all of Division III in assist-to-turnover ratio and Billy was our leader in that area,” Bettencourt said. “He is a very unselfish point guard whose ability to break down the defense and get the ball to the right places has really set a great tone to our offense.”
Arseneault had his 15 minutes of fame in the Gulls’ come-from-behind 63-62 win in the CCC semifinals over No. 5 Wentworth. With less than four seconds left in regulation, Arseneault (11 points) was the man of the hour, hitting the game-winning bucket at the buzzer.
At Lynnfield, Arseneault — a two-time Cape Ann League Player of the Year — finished his three-year varsity career with 1,022 points, becoming the seventh Pioneer to hit the 1,000-point mark. He averaged nearly 21 points and eight assists per game his senior year.
Ellis — a 6-foot-4 forward –has struggled with injuries, but has found a regular place in the rotation this year. He appeared in 23 regular season games, averaging 10 minutes, nearly four points and two rebounds per game. A business management major, he shot 46 percent from the floor and 37 percent from three-point land.
As a freshman, Ellis was a part of a history-making game in the Gulls’ 90-80 win over No. 7 Babson, the defending NCAA Division III national champion. That win was the first time the Gulls had ever beaten an opponent ranked No. 7 or higher in program history.
“It has been a pleasure watching Louis step up and give us a boost off the bench all season,” said Bettencourt. “He was behind some upperclassmen early on in his career,but it was apparent in the middle of last year that he deserved to be getting some minutes.
“He has continued to improve throughout his career and has been a great teammate regardless of his role.”
At Lynnfield, Ellis served as captain of the boys basketball and football teams. He finished his football career tied for the all-time lead in touchdown receptions (14) and was the 2016 CAL Player of the Year. In basketball, he averaged 16.7 points and six rebounds per game during his senior year. He was a two-time CAL First Team all-star, the Lynnfield Male Athlete of the Year and the Most Valuable Player in the Agganis All-Star game.
