SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Junior Richie Armand (Hempstead, N.Y.) hit a deep 25-footer with four seconds left in the final period to give Gordon a come from behind 59-57 victory at Western New England. The Fighting Scots trailed for 37 minutes in the game, but the late shot capped off a 16-point comeback in the second half. Gordon improves to 5-7 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference and 8-11 overall, while breaking a two-game losing streak.
 
The first half played out as a game of runs, with Western New England taking the early advantage with a series of triples. Sophomore Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) was sharp for the Golden Bears early on, hitting his first two shots from deep to pace the streak for Western New England.
 
Gordon countered with eight straight points capped by Sam Johnson's (Chatham, Mass.) layup in traffic with 13:06 remaining on the clock. Not to be outdone, Western New England put up eight consecutive points of its own on triples by Gelineau and defending CCC Player of the Week Nick DeFeo (Southington, Conn.), lasting just over three minutes. The Golden Bears grew their lead to eight points—their largest of the first half—with just over eight minutes to play.
 
Once again the Fighting Scots rebounded with a spurt to climb back within a point with four and a half minutes to go in the first period. The Golden Bears outscored Gordon five to two the rest of the way and took a 30-26 lead into the locker rooms.
 
After starting off hot from behind the arc, Western New England cooled off down the stretch and finished 5-of-14 in the first half. Gordon settled for 13 threes, making only three. The Scots were outrebounded in the first half for only the second time in Commonwealth Coast Conference play—21-18—thanks to eight offensive rebounds by the Golden Bears.
 
Western New England came out of the break on fire from the floor. The Golden Bears made their first four shots, two from deep, to balloon a four-point lead into 14 points less than three minutes in. WNE eventually extended the lead to 16 just two minutes later, capping off a 14-2 run to begin the half.
 
Gordon never folded under the pressure, methodically chipping away at the lead over the next five minutes to pull back within four points at 44-40. Taylor Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) and Dominic Paradis (Rochester, N.H.) both made key baskets during the run to give the Fighting Scots some much-needed life.
 
Gelineau tried to carry the Western New England offense during the final few minutes, scoring six straight points to get the lead back to three possessions. A persistent Gordon squad made another run, eventually tying the game at 52 on a Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) free throw with 5:55 to play.
 
Baskets were hard to come by over the final five minutes, as both teams settled into strong half-court defense. With the game tied, Musa Elsir (Springfield, Mass.) hit the front end of two shots from the charity stripe, but missed the second to put Gordon down 57-56 with 37 ticks to go.
 
Western New England stuffed the paint, not allowing Miersma to get a good look from inside. With time dwindling on the shot clock, Bajema found Armand deep behind the arc for one last shot. Armand took one step to his side and flung a 25-footer toward the Gordon hoop. The last-second heave rattled in and gave Gordon its first lead since early in the first half at 12-10. Gordon defended a desperate attempt from Gelineau as time expired to sweep the season series with the Golden Bears.
 
Gelineau led all scorers with 16 points, while Elsir picked up 13 points of his own. DeFeo was the only other Golden Bear with more than 10 points, finishing with 11. DeFeo also pitched in with five assists, while Luis Agrait (South Hadley, Mass.) came up with three steals. Zack Askew (Middletown, Conn.) had a rough night from the floor, but grabbed eight rebounds.
 
Gordon was led by the three-headed attack of Miersma (14 points), Bajema (12 points) and Paradis (10 points). Miersma finished one rebound short of a double-double with nine, while Bajema picked up Jason Dempsey's rebounding production with eight. Bajema also had a game-high five assists.
 
After being outrebounded in the first half for only the second time in CCC play, Gordon finished plus-10 in the category at 40-30.
 
The Fighting Scots stay on the road Thursday evening when they travel to Dudley for a matchup with undefeated Nichols at 7:30 p.m.