WENHAM, Mass.—The home struggles continued for Gordon Men's Basketball with Wentworth staging a second-half comeback to complete a sweep of the Fighting Scots, 55-50. Freshman Jaren Yang (San Francisco, Calif.) scored a career-high 18 points, but Gordon sorely missed senior Jason Dempsey's (Wallingford, Conn.) presence to defend John-Michael Fragnoli (Schenectady, N.Y.) in the low post. Fragnoli had 15 points to lead the Leopards to their sixth Commonwealth Coast Conference win on Thursday night.
 
Buckets came at a premium in the first half with nearly team finding much room to shoot. Wentworth deployed a zone defense, which gave a turnover-prone Gordon offense fits in the half-court sets. The Fighting Scots turned the ball over 14 times in the first half alone, but a stretch over the final seven minutes of the period gave them a lead.
 
Despite their defensive effort, Wentworth was equally as cold as the Fighting Scots in its offensive end. The Leopards lack of size outside of Fragnoli forced them to settle for deep shots and the three ball was unkind to Wentworth in the first half, shooting 1-of-10.
 
Combined the two teams would only make 14 shots from the field over the first 20 minutes of play, but Gordon's ability to hit four triples in the early going gave them a seven-point lead at the break. The Fighting Scots outrebounded Wentworth 20-15 in the first half, but Gordon surrendered six offensive boards. Fragnoli and Gordon's Craig McFarlane (Hackensack, N.J.) led each team with nine first-half points.
 
The Scots came out of halftime unsettled despite a three-possession lead and Wentworth immediately attacked. After scoring only 16 in the entire first half, Wentworth totaled 10 straight points in the first four minutes of the second to grab a three-point lead—one they would never surrender.
 
Gordon had no answer for reserve forward Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) in the second half. Ganley displayed a variety of low-post moves to get by the Scots and score at the hoop for 10 second-half points.
 
Wentworth pushed the lead to eight points with 2:49 remaining when Gordon made its final push. Gordon went on an 11-4 run, including eight from Yang, to bring down the Leopards' lead to one point. The Leopards' Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.) made two clutch free throws with 11 seconds, leaving Gordon one last opportunity to force overtime.
 
Yang missed a deep three and Gordon resorted to fouling in the final two seconds, as Wentworth held on for the 55-50 victory. The Gordon freshman led all players with 18 points, while McFarlane was the only other Scot in double figures with 12 tallies. Seniors Taylor Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) and Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) combined for a season-low eight points. Miersma did have a solid night on the glass however by corralling 15 caroms.
Wentworth improves to 8-10 on the season overall and 6-5 in the CCC, while Gordon falls to 7-10 and 4-6 respectively. The Leopards are back in action on Saturday when they play host to Salve Regina. Gordon also stays at home with rival Endicott coming to the Bennett Center for a 3 p.m. tip.