SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Gordon Men's Basketball responded with a big second half after a slow start, pulling away from host Western New England for a 92-80 victory. The Fighting Scots improve to 4-2 on the season and 2-0 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, while Western New England falls to 1-5 and 0-2 respectively.
The first half played close with the largest lead no higher than seven points for either side. Gordon struggled to find any consistency on offense, shooting near the 30 percent mark for much of the half until the final few minutes. Playing in his first game of the season after suffering an injury in preseason, Eric Demers (Aschunet, Mass.) provided the Scots with their best offensive approach, combined with classmate Garrisson Duvivier (Brockton, Mass.). The two scored nine of Gordon's first 16 points and helped the visitors get out to a 20-16 lead at the halfway point of the opening period.
However, Western New England countered back with a 13-2 lead to take control of its largest lead of the game at 29-22. Gordon was able to close the gap to two points on two occasions over the final few minutes despite Daniel Silva's 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including three deep balls. Gordon only hit on three of nine attempts from behind the arch in the first half and held a narrow 22-19 rebound advantage.
The final 10 minutes was a completely different story for the Fighting Scots, improving their shooting percentage from all spots on the floor. Trailing 62-56, Gordon went on its biggest run of the game, 11-0 to build up a five-point advantage. Demers and Jaren Yang (San Francisco, Calif.) each hit a three during the run, while Gordon began to shut the Golden Bears down on the other end.
Gordon never trailed again in the game.
After Nelson Zayas cut Gordon's lead to two points on a kick out three from Mikey Pettway, the Fighting Scots put together another big run (11-1) to put enough distance between the two sides as they approached the final horn. Gordon made enough of its free throws in the final minutes to never let Western New England back into the contest, sending the home side to its fourth straight loss.
Duvivier had his biggest overall game of the season for the Scots, scoring 23 points and picking up 18 rebounds while teammate Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) was in foul trouble in the first. Demers did not show any rust despite a five-week layoff, tying Duvivier with the team high in points. The sophomore guard did much of his damage from the charity stripe, making 12 of his 14 attempts.
Despite playing only a few minutes in the first, Johnson still finished with his eighth consecutive double-double dating back to the end of last season. The senior forward scored 14 and gathering 11 boards. Yang continued his steady play with 14 points, five assists and a perfect day at the stripe.
After holding on a three-rebound lead at the half, Gordon finished with a 49-32 advantage for the game, improving their rebound margin numbers. Western New England's bench scored 43 of its 80 points, while Gordon contributed a season-high 32 from the bench. The Fighting Scots also shot above 80 percent from the free throw line for the first time this winter.
Silva led the Golden Bears with 18 points, only three of which came in the second half. Held scoreless at the half, Pettway tallied 17 in the second, including going 9-of-11 at the stripe.
Gordon will head down to Milton on Tuesday to take on Curry (0-5) at 7:30 p.m.
