NEWPORT, R.I.—Gordon's inside presence was too much for Salve Regina to handle as the Fighting Scots spoiled Senior Day with a 74-66 victory. A neck-and-neck game turned late in the second half as Gordon was able to control the paint on both ends of the floor to secure its third straight win. The Fighting Scots clinched a home game in the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference playoffs with the triumph.
In a game that lacked much pace, Gordon was content to grind the Seahawks down until the very whistle. The Scots interior presence held Salve's front line starters to a combined 14 points and 10 rebounds, while getting them into foul trouble with a heavy dose of close jumpers.
Garrisson Duvivier (Brockton, Mass.) had one of his finest games of the year with 26 points and nine rebounds, while shooting at 50 percent from the floor. Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) had another methodical game with 13 points and 16 boards, while holding Connor Costello in check.
The Fighting Scots gained the largest advantage of the first half at five points, but Salve closed the gap by halftime for a 30-30 game. The Seahawks continued their run into the second half, taking a 38-32 advantage fewer than three minutes into the period, but Gordon never wavered.
When Johnson capitalized on an and-one play with 7:50 to go in regulation, Gordon took its first lead since the first half and quickly extended it a three-possession lead just three minutes later. Salve wasn't able to generate enough offense over the final quarter of regulation to outpace the Scots and Gordon held on for the comfortable victory.
Gordon's 19 second chance points proved to be a big key in the end, compared to only two for the Seahawks.
Isaiah Bowman was Salve's best player on the day with 15 points. Rodney Morton and David Blackwell each chipped in 12 points, with most of their offense coming from behind the arch. The Seahawks made eight of 25 attempts from three, compared to a two of nine showing for Gordon.
Jaren Yang (San Francisco, Calif.) dished out a game-high five assists to go with 13 points. Duvivier was the game leader with four steals.
Gordon committed a season-low nine turnovers in the victory.
As the top two seeds, Nichols and Endicott will both be hosting quarterfinal matchups. The other two hosts for the first round of the tournament are No. 3 seed Roger Williams, which went 13-5 in the CCC (19-6 Overall), and No. 4 seed Gordon, which finished with a 12-6 CCC (15-10 Overall) record in the regular season.
The quarterfinal round begins on Tuesday, Feb. 21. No. 8-seeded University of New England, which went 5-13 (7-18 Overall) in conference play this year, will begin the postseason where they wrapped the regular season – at Nichols. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Endicott's quest for a three-peat starts against No. 7 seed Salve Regina, which enters the postseason with a 6-12 CCC (8-16 Overall) record. Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m. Roger Williams will host No. 6 seed Eastern Nazarene at 7:30 p.m. The Lions went 9-9 in the CCC (12-13 Overall) this year. Gordon draws No. 5 seed Wentworth, which went 11-7 in league (13-12 Overall) this year, in the first round with game time scheduled for 7 p.m.
game will play the winner of Gordon-Wentworth game and the Endicott-Salve Regina winner will play the Roger Williams-Eastern Nazarene winner. Game times will be determined following the quarterfinal round.Nichols-UNEThe winners of the quarterfinal games will meet in the semifinal round on Thursday, Feb. 23. The winner of the
The two semifinal winners earn a trip to the CCC Men's Basketball Championship which takes place on Saturday, Feb. 25. The CCC Tournament Champion will receive the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.
Tournament Schedule
(Games hosted by the higher seed)
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, Feb. 21
#5 Wentworth at #4 Gordon, 7 p.m.
#6 Eastern Nazarene at #3 Roger Williams, 7:30 p.m.
#7 Salve Regina at #2 Endicott, 8 p.m.
#8 University of New England at #1 Nichols, 7 p.m.
Semifinals – Thursday, Feb. 23
#2/7 winner vs. #3/6 winner, TBA
#1/8 winner vs. #4/5 winner, TBA
Finals – Saturday, Feb. 25
Semifinal winners at higher seed, TBA
