Providence, R.I. – The second-seeded Johnson & Wales University men's basketball team defeated sixth-seeded Endicott, 83-75 in the semifinals of the ECAC Division III New England Championship at the Wildcat Center on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Esaie Touze (Providence, R.I.) paced Johnson & Wales with 19 points, 11 rebounds and four steals while senior Curtis Lucas (Providence, R.I.) and sophomoreRobert Lewis (Baltimore, Md.) each had 18 points in the victory for the Wildcats.

Endicott was led by John Henault (Lunenburg, Mass.) with 13 points and five rebounds while junior Andre Markis (Southbury, Conn.) had 12 points in the loss for the Gulls.

The two teams battled back and forth early with the game knotted 14-14 midway through the first half.  JWU then used a 10-0 run, capped by a layup by senior Matt Barboza (Riverside, R.I.) to give the team the 24-14 advantage with 7:01 remaining in the stanza.  The Wildcats led by as many as 14 points late in the half before taking the 36-25 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.  JWU held Endicott to just 30.0% (9-for-30) and forced the Gulls into 12 turnovers.

Endicott chipped away at and cut the lead to 49-46 on a traditional three-point play by Henault with 13:33 left.  That was as close as the Gulls would get, however as JWU pushed the lead up to 20 points on a layup by junior Frank Robinson (Providence, R.I.), taking the 74-54 advantage with just under five minutes left on the clock.  The Wildcats then held on for the 83-75 victory.

With the victory Johnson & Wales improves to 22-7 while Endicott wraps up the 2013-14 campaign with a 18-10 record.  Johnson & Wales will take on Lasell in the championship game of the ECAC Division III New England Championship at the Wildcat Center on Sunday, March 9th at 1:00 p.m. 

*Release courtesy of JWU Sports Information Dept.