Box Score
BRISTOL, R.I. – Gordon College pulled away from the Roger Williams University Men’s Basketball team in the second half, defeating the Hawks, 93-80, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup Tuesday night in Bristol.

Gordon improved to 13-6 overall and 8-4 in the conference while the Hawks dropped to 6-13 and 3-9 in the conference.

The Hawks were able to jump out to a quick lead in the first three minutes of the game with aggressive defense and a fast paced offense. Seniors James LeCardi (Fair Haven, N.J.) and Mike Igoe (Lexington, Mass.) displayed their experience with LeCardi’s fearless defense and Igoe’s strong moves to the basket. Adam Cook (Manasquan, N.J.) was also able show off his range by hitting a three-pointer to push the hawks lead to 7-3, followed by two free throws from Igoe, putting their lead at 9-3. 

Gordon answered right back with a six-point run, tying the game at 9-9 with 15:45 minutes left to go in the first half. Ryan Palumbo (Warwick, R.I.) then came up with a steal and run down the court for an easy layup, giving the Hawks an 11-9 lead. David Dempsey (Sr./Wallingford, Conn.) answered Palumbo with a strong inside move to the basket, tying the game at 11-11 and putting himself on the line for one shot. Dempsey missed his foul shot and the Hawks took over. 

Both teams battled back and forth, scoring point after point before Gordon took an 18-15 lead over the Hawks with strong moves to the basket by Dempsey and good midrange shooting from Alex Carnes (Jr./Phoenix, Ariz.).

That battle continued for the bulk of the half before Dempsey drove to the hoop for two and Carnes buried an outside jumper to put Gordon out in front, 39-35.

Will Gerencer (Bowdoin, Maine) answered right back for the Hawks with a three-pointer, to which Taylor Bajema (So./Whitinsville, Mass.) and Carnes responded with a couple of outside jumpers of their own to improve the Scots’ lead to 43-38.

After Gerencer answered the call once again with an outside jumper to close the deficit, Gordon went on a six-point run to end the first half with a 46-40 advantage.

In the second half, Palumbo started things for the Hawks with a three-pointer followed by an outside jump shot from Igoe to close the deficit to 45-46. Palumbo then went on to grab an aggressive steal at mid-court and convert an easy layup for two, putting the Hawks in front, 47-46. Hans Miersma (So./Whitinsville, Mass.) and Dempsey answered with two strong inside moves for Gordon to overtake the lead, 50-47.

Palumbo came right back at Gordon and hit a jump shot to put the Hawks down one, but Dempsey got back into the paint for another quick two. Gerencer then made a quick layup for the Hawks, but they were quickly silenced by an outside three-pointer from Park Thomas (Jr./Scotsdale, Ariz.).

The game continued back and forth until the 10-minute mark when Gordon went on an 11-point run behind a pair of three-pointers from Carnes and another by Thomas to push the lead to 71-60 over the Hawks.

Despite Joseph Henry (Medway, Mass.) stopping the run with a layup of his own, Carnes came right back with yet another three-pointer to maintain the advantage. And though the Hawks tried battling back down the stretch, they were unable to close the gap and Gordon ran away with the 13-point victory.

Palumbo finished with a career-high 21 points to go along with nine rebounds, seven assists, and five steals. Igoe added 16 points while LeCardi chipped in 11 points.

Carnes finished with a game-high 39 points off the bench, shooting 14-of-15 from the field and 5-of-5 from downtown. Thomas added 12 points and seven assists, while David Dempsey had 18 points and nine rebounds.

The Hawks will travel to Curry College for a 7:30 p.m. game on Thursday, while Gordon travels to the University of New England the same night for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

Release courtesy of RWU sports information.