Greg Walker Reaches 1000 Points During Loss to Endicott

Greg Walker hears it after reaching 1000 points.

(Wenham) A great Bennett Center crowd saw senior Greg Walker (17 points) reach the 1000-point plateau. That same crowd also saw Endicott (13-6) defeat Gordon (6-12), 77-62, on the same Saturday afternoon.

Best known for his moves around the basket, it was an outside shot that pushed Greg in among sixteen other Gordon scorers with 1000 points. I saw four of those big-time scorers in the house – Brady Bajema, Mike Herr, Scott Beebe, and Jon Marstaller.

Greg gave no indication during his first season (2007-08) that he would be any sort of scorer. He only got into 14 of 27 games and his point total for the season was 15!

I checked in with Coach Mike Schauer before the 2008-09 season and he told me that Greg was ready to contribute because he now had some excellent moves around the basket. Those of us who have watched the Scots over the past three seasons have seen plenty of Greg’s good work around the basket. Congrats to him.

Meanwhile, back at the game you’re probably still wondering about if you’ve read this far.

The first half was typical of most of the Gordon/Endicott games. Plenty of revved up fans. Endicott brought along a band! Plenty of emotion on the floor and generally not a lot of scoring. There were nine lead changes and no clear sense of how this one would end up.

The second half started promising for the home team – layups by Austin Bentson and Greg Walker.

Those two baskets made it 36-32 at which point Endicott called a timeout. Coach Phil Rowe did all the talking (loud) and finger pointing. Let’s just say he tried to light a fire under the Gulls and the results thereafter suggest he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

Over the next ten minutes Endicott did almost everything right. Their full-court pressure tightened and nine Gordon turnovers resulted. On offense, the Gulls made everything but a three. When those game changing ten minutes ended Endicott had produced a 27-7 run. That’ll turn most games and it sure did this one.

Lance Greene (23 points) sparked Endicott's second half run.

Lance Greene (23 points) sparked the offense during this stretch with ten points. The Gulls made 9-of-11 free throws. They were great from the line throughout – 22-of-25.

With a 59-43 cushion and eight minutes left, the cows had left the barn. The Scots outscored Endicott, 19-18, the rest of the way but superb clock management kept Gordon from getting into any sort of position for late-game heroics .

Lance was great but another key performer was Erik Callo. He did not play in Gordon’s, 88-74, win at Endicott in November. Erik (6’8″) had 13 points and 11 rebounds in this game. To say that he might have made a difference in the first game is beyond question. He made life difficult for Greg in close.

David Dempsey and Aaron Karkow were a good matchup. I have seen Aaron’s long-range touch in past games – he had three 3’s in this one – but never his defense. He did a nice job on David although David did find a way to collect fourteen points.

Austin Bentson (15 points) came out red hot (ten points in the first half) and had a lot to do with Gordon being tied (32-32) at the half. The Gordon broadcast team has no trouble handing him “Timmy (MacDonnell)” points on a regular basis.

Everyone, including the Endicott defense, was tuned into Greg closing in on 1000. After several turnovers, missed shots, and a pat on the head from Coach Tod Murphy, Greg tallied five points in the last two minutes to get to 1000.

The record breaker was about a 16-footer over Spencer Calling with forty seconds left in the first half. The accomplishment was announced and the fans erupted with applause.

Gordon’s next game is on Wednesday night at Regis in Weston MA. The game is scheduled for 7:30PM.