WENHAM, Mass.—A series known for grind-it-out games was anything but as Wentworth used an efficient offensive attack to hand Gordon an 86-78 loss on the Scots' home court. The Leopards snapped Gordon's three-game win streak by hovering near 70 percent from the field for much of the game and matching the Scots' high-scoring offense blow for blow.
At the exact halfway point of the Commonwealth Coast Conference schedule, Gordon sits at 6-3 in the league and 9-7 overall, which is good enough for fourth. The Leopards improve to 5-4 in a league full of parity, but still sit in sixth place rounding the turn.
Despite the game containing two programs known for their defense, Wentworth and Gordon put on an offensive showcase from beginning to end. A close opening five minutes where neither led by more than three was temporarily broken open by the Leopards with an 8-0 run between the six and nine-minute marks. Garrisson Duvivier (Brockton, Mass.) and Jake Hart (Allendale, N.J.) were the engines of Gordon's offense in the first half, but could not fully counter a Wentworth offense that seemingly could not miss.
The Leopards quickly pushed their lead to 10 points and held off a Gordon counter as the Scots cut things to four with seven minutes to go. In the blink of an eye, Wentworth grew its advantage back to 12 and took a nine-point lead into the halftime break.
Wentworth shot 68 percent from the floor in the opening period and made four of six attempts from deep compared to zero makes for the home side.
Gordon made a big run over the first five minutes of the second half, cutting the lead down to three when Jaren Yang (San Francisco, Calif.) nailed a three on a kick out. However, Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) was left open atop the key for a deep response and Wentworth cruised back to a 16-point edge.
Once again the Scots responded to shrink things down to three when Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) laid in an offensive rebound with 1:52 to go. But Wentworth was just too much down the stretch, capitalizing on a few Gordon miscues to build a comfortable double-digit lead and keep things out of reach for good.
Shooting 65.3 as a team, four of Wentworth's five starters shot above 60 percent. Reserve forward Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) scored a career high 19 points with only two misses from the field. Four Wentworth starters had at least 12 points, led by Ganley with 16. Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) dished out a game-high seven assists.
Duvivier was the game leader in points with 24 and steals with five. Sam Johnson had his best shooting night of the season with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting, but was limited to just seven rebounds due to Wentworth only missing 17 shots in the game. Hart had a season-high 12 points on a 6-of-7 effort from the floor. Yang tied the game-high with seven assists.
Gordon finishes off a three-game home stand on Saturday when they host Western new England at 3 p.m. Wentworth gets a shot of revenge at home against Nichols on Saturday at the same time.
