Box Score WENHAM, Mass.—In their first game following a three-week Christmas break, the Gordon Men's Basketball squad dropped a defensive battle with the visiting Wentworth Leopards. Only three players total from both teams reached the 10-point scoring plateau and the Leopards escaped with a 55-51 over the CCC favorite Scots.
Neither team was able to get any momentum on the offensive end from the start as both teams focused on shutting down their opponent's inside game. Junior forward Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) has been a matchup nightmare for teams early in the season, but Leopards executed a gameplan to frustrate the big man from the opening tip.
The Scots would take their largest lead of the first half in the fifth minute of the game when Alex Carnes hit a three atop the key to give Gordon an 11-8 advantage. The score remained that way for the next four minutes until John-Michael Fragnoli ended the radio silence on a nice give-and-go from Derek Mayo. Nico Donato gave the Leopards their first lead of the game at the 10:55 mark with an unassisted runner in the lane.
Gordon (3-6) struggled on the offensive end down the stretch of the first half, as the Leopards outscored the Scots 17-13 in the final 10 minutes of the stanza.
Wentworth took a 29-24 lead into halftime.
The Leopards (5-5) came out of the 15-minute intermission as the aggressors. Wentworth adjusted into a full-court press at the break and forced Gordon into tough shots. Cam Sennick and Jherson Colon combined for five points early in the half, as the Leopards opened a 10-point lead at 34-24 with 17 minutes remaining.
A double-digit lead signaled a big change for the Scots, as all five starters were removed from the lineup. Gordon's reserves responded to the adversity and sparked the Scots on a 14-4 run to tie the game at 38 points aside at the 10-minute mark in the second.
Miersma re-entered the game and gave the Scots their first lead in nearly 20 minutes of play on two free throws at the 8:40 mark at 40-40. The two teams remained tied at 43-43 when the Leopards went on a run that would put just enough distance between them and the Scots.
Ray Bessette hit an off-balance three from the far corner of the floor and on the next possession Mayo snuck under his defender at the top of the key to hit a floater as time ran out on the shot clock.
Gordon was never able to get closer than three points the rest of the way and Wentworth held on for a confidence-boosting conference victory. The Leopards will look to keep their two-game conference winning streak alive on Tuesday against UNE.
Reserves, Bessette and Colon led the Leopards in scoring with 12 and 11 points respectively. Three different players finished with six rebounds.
Miersma was the only Gordon player to break into double-figure scoring with 13 points. Alex Carnes (Phoenix, Ariz.) finished with seven points and nine rebounds to lead Gordon on the glass. The Scots had the slight edge on the boards 34-31.
Gordon will look to rebound on Tuesday night with a trip to Western New England at 7 p.m.
