WENHAM, Mass.—Justin Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) saved his best for last, making a deep three from the right side with .9 seconds to give Eastern Nazarene a 71-68 win over Gordon. Wagner did not hit a shot from the floor until his final attempt and pushed the Lions to 14-1 on the season—7-1 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Senior Taylor Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) had a career high 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting in the last-second loss.
The Fighting Scots have struggled with slow starts during the first half of the conference slate, but it was Gordon who came out of the gate with more energy. Bajema was nearly unstoppable in the first half, making nine of his 11 attempts to aid Gordon's 18-6 start after eight minutes.
On the other end the Lions struggled to find any open looks against the much taller Scots and Gordon was able to limit ENC's high-powered, three-point offense. However over the final six minutes of the first half, ENC's deep ball began to hit the mark in bunches. Jeremy Wagner (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Jaylen Owens (Johns Creek, Ga.) hit a couple of triples to bring the Lions back within two points approaching the end of the half.
After a steal and layup tied the game at 30, Bajema hit another jumper to give Gordon a two-point lead with one possession to go. Christian Lynch (Alpharetta, Ga.) drew contact as time was expiring in the half and nailed both free throws to send the game to halftime tied at 32 a side.
The Lions took their first lead of the game on a three by Owens on their first possession of the second half. ENC led for much of the second half, but by no more than five points as Gordon continued to capitalize on its offensive end. Jason Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) gave the lead back to the Fighting Scots with 7:59 to play, but it was short-lived.
Neither team could gain an advantage over the next seven minutes to set up a final minute full of fireworks. Bajema hit a triple with 51 ticks in regulation to give Gordon a 68-66 lead, but Alex Jarman (Portsmouth, R.I.) was able to answer on the other end to knot things up. Gordon held the ball with 31 seconds remaining, but a bad turnover out of a timeout led to misfortune on the other end. Justin Wagner had a wide open look on the kickout from Owens and buried his only bucket of the game to seal Gordon's fate.
Owens put up 15 points to lead the Lions, while also dishing out six assists and grabbing two steals. Reserve forward Corey Doran (Fairfield, Calif.) quietly had 13 points off the bench as the only Lion with double-figures. For the second time in three games Gordon was spurned by a team shooting at least 50-percent from behind the arc, as the Lions his nine of their 18 attempts.
For the third straight game, Gordon had a player notch a career high in points in a losing effort. Bajema could not be controlled at points in the game, adding six rebounds to his 28 points. Dempsey had a status quo 12 points, but could only grab three rebounds. Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) almost outrebounded the Lions by himself with 18 boards, while also chipping in 11 points. Richie Armand (Hempstead, N.Y.) played his most minutes since returning from injury and dished out five assists.
Gordon outrebounded the Lions 39-24 and shot 51.8-percent from the field in the loss to the CCC preseason favorite.
The Scots will look to break a three-game losing streak on Tuesday at Roger Williams for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
