WORCESTER, Mass.—An outstanding effort by Becker senior Kyle Credle guided the Hawks to an 85-78 win over Gordon in the first semester finale for both squads on Friday evening. Gordon trailed at halftime, but held a lead with just a few minutes to go in the second half before Credle took over the game.
The Fighting Scots drop their second straight contest after a 6-2 start and sit at 6-4 entering the winter break. Becker improves its mark to 6-4 as well.
An efficient offensive display was showcased by both teams in a fast-moving first half. Gordon jumped out to a 5-0 advantage with two quick made buckets. Becker came back to take its first lead at 8-7, ushering in a back-and-forth affair for the remainder of the opening 20 minutes.
Gordon's Jake Haar (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Becker's Antonio White (Middletown, Conn.) put on a show from behind the arch. Both guards only missed one from downtown in the first half, making it look like they were battling each other on a string of possessions in the period.
Neither team held a firm advantage for a majority of the half, matching points when the other found some rhythm. Gordon reclaimed its first lead since early in the stanza at 38-36 with 3:24 to go, but the Hawks went on an 8-1 run to end the half and took a 44-39 lead into the halftime break.
Becker shot 50 percent as a team in the first half, while Gordon was just a hair over 40 percent. The Fighting Scots shot a bit better from deep, making five of its nine attempts.
The Hawks put the Scots in an eight-point hole right out of the gate in the second half and held dear to that lead for the first 10 minutes of the period. Gordon never looked fazed by the deficit and eventually strung together a few stops on defense to go with their outside shooting. Noah Szilagyi (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) hit a transition three on a 5-on-4 break to cut it to a one-point game with nine minutes to go before putting the visitors on top with a layup on the next possession.
Gordon held a one-possession advantage twice in the closing minutes, but Credle was not to be outdone. The Becker senior made three consecutive buckets, including two from deep, while Gordon went cold on the other side. The Hawks turned it from a 75-75 game to 83-76 in just over a minute, putting the Scots down for good.
Credle and Kareem Davis (Lowell, Mass.) led the Hawks in scoring, missing only four shots of 21 taken in the game. Credle scored a game-high 24 points, 16 of which came in the final period. Davis had 18 for the game and 12 in the second half. White missed all four of his attempts from deep in the second, but still finished with 15 after a stellar first half. Samuel Durodola (Rosedale, N.Y.) had a workmanlike 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks for the Hawks.
Garrisson Duviviver (Brockton, Mass.) and Haar led Gordon with 19 points apiece. Duvivier had another double-double by adding 13 rebounds. Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) finished just a point short of a double-double for the second time in three games, but captured 16 caroms to hover around his season average in the category. Haar's five made triples pushed Gordon to a season-high 10 made threes.
Gordon's tough schedule continues coming out the holiday break with Nichols and Endicott back-to-back to ring in the New Year.
