Box Score WENHAM, Mass.—A balanced Eastern Nazarene attack fended of Gordon's second consecutive comeback attempt on an emotional Senior Day at the Bennett Center. The Scots nearly completed an improbable come from behind victory, but the Lions end the game on a 15-3 run to pull out a 75-66 in in front of a deafening crowd.
The celebrated seniors started the game and played the first five minutes, while the two teams combined to make the first seven attempted shots from the floor. Alex Jarman (Portsmouth, R.I.) and former CCC Rookie of the Year Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) started the game hot to put Gordon in an early hole.
The Scots held serve with Lions over the first five minutes until Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) converted on a rare four-point play. Wagner set his feet on the far corner of the floor and got clipped in the process of shooting by senior Shaun Roach (Weymouth, Mass.) as he came down to open a seven-point lead.
Gordon, who never led in the first half, trimmed the Lions lead to three with 9:37 remaining in the first half before on a 10-0 run capped off by Jeremy Wagner's (Oklahoma City, Okla.) kick-out triple.
The Lions netted four shots from long range in the first half and led by as many as 16 points. Park Thomas (Scottsdale, Ariz.) made two free throws in the final minute to close the gap to 12 points, but a persistent LeQuan Gomes (Fairfield, Calif.) finished a put-back layup in the closing seconds for a 42-28 halftime lead.
Eastern Nazarene only scored 14 points in the first half when the two teams met a month ago, but a 49-percent shooting mark in the period gave them the lofty advantage. Jarma led all scorers with 12 points in the first half, while dominating the paint with a nifty right hook.
A jumper just outside the lane from Owens started the second half on a positive note for the Lions, when the switch seemed to turn on for the host Fighting Scots. During a six-minute span, Gordon crushed the Lions' lead to four points finishing with a Luke Hamilton (Mount Airy, N.C.) triple at the top of the key.
Two minutes later, Dominic Paradis (Rochester, N.H.) finished off a pass from Alex Carnes (Phoenix, Ariz.) to make it a 50-48 game in favor of the visitors. The lead bounced between two and four points for the next three minutes until Paradis rattled home a wide open three to creep within a point. Exactly a minute later, Taylor Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) gave the Fighting Scots their first lead of the game, 57-56, on a layup with 7:24 to play.
The Scots extended the lead to three points on three straight possessions, but the Lions countered every play with a basket on the other end. Gordon hoped a thunderous dunk from Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) would spur them on another extended run, but the Scots euphoria would be short-lived.
Miersma gave Gordon a 63-60 lead with just over four minutes to play, but Owens and Justin Wagner scored five points in the next minute to ENC a two-point advantage. The Scots struggled to find their way from the floor in the final minutes of the game and were forced to foul on the other end.
The Lions made a majority of the shots from the stripe to grow their one-possession lead into a nine-point game in the final minute.
Eastern Nazarene had four players over the 10-point plateau, with reserve Gomes leading the way with 18 points. Gomes was a threat to score almost any time he touched the ball in the second half and his energy on the offensive glass gave the Lions several extra possessions. Owens and Jarman each totaled 16 points, while Justin Wagner had a cool 11 points.
The Lions finished just a shade under shooting 50-percent from the floor, despite making only five of their 19 three-point attempts. Gordon also shot well, but was plagued with no made field goals in the final four minutes.
Jason Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) and Miersma had great second halves to lead the Scots in points with 13 and 12 points respectively. Carnes, in his final regular season game at the Bennett Center, carved out a tough 10 points and eight boards. Thomas only scored two points in the second half, but finished with nine total points and a team-high six assists in 29 minutes.
Gordon honored seniors Thomas, Hamilton, Roach, Carnes and Roy Ray (Medford, Mass.) before the game for their dedication to the program. The five will look to earn their second appearance in a CCC Championship this coming week.
The game was to decide which school would receive the second-seed in the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament and which school would have to settle for third. Eastern Nazarene will host No. 7 Wentworth on Tuesday, while Gordon will host No. 6 Roger Williams, who they just played this past Tuesday in Bristol, R.I. Both games will tip off at 7 p.m.
