BRISTOL, R.I.—Gordon Men's Basketball scored nearly 50 points in the second half, but it was not enough to overcome a slow start in a 73-71 loss to Roger Williams. The Hawks staved off a last-second comeback by the Fighting Scots to stay unbeaten in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, while Gordon drops its first conference game of the season.
 
Gordon found it tough to slow down the Hawks in the early going and immediately fell behind 8-0 less than three minutes into the game. The Scots got back within three points later in the half, but Roger Williams led for all 20 minutes as the Gordon offense sputtered in the half court. Gordon shot a season low 11.1-percent from three in the first half and trailed 33-24 at the intermission.
 
A halftime pep talk was just what the Scots needed to kickstart the offense, as the Fighting Scots opened the second half with a quick 10-0 run. After a quiet opening period, freshman Noah Szilagyi (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) hit two deep balls to help Gordon take its first lead of the game at 34-33.
 
After increasing its lead to 41-39 on an old fashioned three-point play by Eric Demers (West Wareham, Mass.), Roger Williams struck back to tie the game. The two teams went back and forth until RWU's Andrew Wasik (Gainesville, Fla.) hit his second triple of the half to take a 53-50 advantage.
 
That lead quickly blossomed into a 12-point lead for the Hawks with only three minutes to go in regulation. Roger Williams hit four shots from behind the arch in the second half despite being one of the worst outside shooting teams in the CCC coming into the game. Several came in the waning minutes to build up the double-digit lead.
 
Gordon trailed by 10 points with two minutes to go when they made a final push. The Scots scored 10 of the next 12 points over the next minute and a half to pull back within two.
 
Roger Williams turned the ball over and missed three free throws in the final minute to give Gordon every opportunity to send the game to overtime. After a pair of misses by Nick Marini (Loudonville, N.Y.), Demers drove to the bucket and drew a foul to earn two shots from the stripe. The freshman missed the front end, but made the second to keep the game alive.
 
Wasik missed one of two free throws on the following possession, but a half-court heave by Demers fell off the iron to the left and allowed the Hawks to survived a last-minute collapse.
 
For the Scots

• Demers became the first player to score 20 or more points in a game this season with 25 in Saturday's loss. The rookie carried the Gordon offense at times as he shot 50-percent from the floor and 4-of-5 at the line.
• Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) scored 18 points, which was the most he has had in a game since registering 22 at UNE during his freshman season. He also picked up 11 boards and has a team-high four double-doubles this winter.
• Garrisson Duvivier (Brockton, Mass.) had 10 points to continue his streak of double-digit scoring to six straight. He also led the team in assists with six.
• Gordon's bench only scored one point in the second half.

Stats to Know

• Gordon made a season-high 29 shots made despite the loss.
• The Scots outrebounded its opponent for the third straight game and extended its rebounding margin to 5.3 more per game. Gordon was top five in the nation in rebounding margin last year.
• Roger Williams and Gordon are first and third respectively in points allowed per game. Each allowed over its season average in the game.