DUDLEY, Mass.—Gordon Men's Basketball controlled the host Nichols Bison for a majority of the first 30 minutes, but it was the Bison who made shots down the stretch to secure a 73-66 win on their home turf. The Fighting Scots held a 36-29 lead at halftime behind a solid defensive, however Irving Eggleston and Devin Stallings combined for 25 points in the second half to grab the win.
Nichols snaps Gordon's three-game win streak and improves to 11-3 overall. The Bison also jump above the Scots in the standings with a 5-2 Commonwealth Coast Conference record. Gordon falls back to .500 and 4-3 in the CCC.
Neither team generated much momentum in beginning of the first half as the largest differential between the two team was three points during the opening 15 minutes. Gordon shot above its season average of free throws in the first half and it aided them in the waning moments of the opening period. The Scots made 13 of 14 opportunities from the charity stripe to build a nine-point lead with two minutes to go in the half.
Sophomore
Jake Hart (Allendale, N.J.) made a three at the beginning of the second half to give Gordon its largest lead of the game at 39-29.
Nichols began to chip away at the Scot lead as its pressure gave Gordon fits in the second half. The Bison turned a double-digit deficit into a tie game before the midway point of the half while Gordon went long stretches without making a shot from the floor.
Gordon would only muster six made shots from the floor over the final 15 minutes and the Bison capitalized in transition to pull away over the final few minutes of the contest.
For the Foes:- Eggleston only shot 35-percent from the floor, but still managed 23 points thanks to a strong 9-of-11 performance at the free throw line.
- Stallings had a solid double-double with 14 points and 14 boards
- Gustave Koumare also finished in double-digits with 15 totals points.
For the Scots:- Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) had an incredible night on the glass with 23 total rebounds and a team-high four assists. Johnson struggled to find consistent looks under the hoop though and finished with nine points on 2-of-9 shooting.
- Johnson finished one off for the best single-game rebound performance during, which was established by Hans Miersma at Endicott in December 2014.
- Freshman forward Garrisson Duvivier (Brockton, Mass.) was the only Gordon player in double-digits, a season low, with 17 points. He also had a game-high three rejections.
Quick Hits:- Gordon held Nichols to a season low in points, three pointers made and three-point percentage.
- The Bison only turned the ball over six times compared to 18 by Gordon. Nichols outscored the Scots 17-3 on points directly off turnovers, which made a difference in the second half.
