WENHAM, Mass.—Fifth-seeded Wentworth spoiled a furious comeback and upset the host Fighting Scots 82-75 in the first round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament. Gordon rebounded from 13 points down in the period, but Wentworth finished things off late to knock the Scots from the playoffs for the second time in three years.
The Fighting Scots close out the season at 15-11 and 1-2 against their budding rival, Wentworth. The Leopards move on to play top seed, Nichols, on Thursday night and improve their mark to 14-12.
Gordon was a well-oiled machine on offense over the first 10 minutes, jumping out to a six-point advantage as Wentworth struggled to find its shot. However, the defensive-minded Leopards shut the Scots down in the last spurt of the half, while getting its offense going on the other end. Wentworth turned a 24-20 deficit into a 38-28 lead at the half before the Fighting Scots could blink. Gordon did not make a three in the first half, while Wentworth went 4-of-8 from deep to put the Scots in a big hole.
Wentworth looked keen on grinding the Fighting Scots down. Twice, Gordon got the game back within two possessions to start the second half only for the Leopards to push the lead back even higher the other way.
The home team hung around though, and with a quarter of time remaining in the game they made their move. The Leopards led 54-44 with 11:44 to go when Cesar Fulcar (Watertown, Mass.) hit a pair of free throws, but Garrisson Duvivier (Brockton, Mass.) began to take control with five straight points, including a three-point play.
Despite Wentworth pushing the lead back to nine, Duvivier's emotion was contagious for the Fighting Scots. Jake Hart (Allendale, N.J.) and Josh Ribeiro (Attleboro, Mass.) spurred the Scots on a 10-1 run, which was finished off by an and-one play by the sophomore, Ribeiro, tying the game in the process at 59.
With the crowd finally back into it, Wentworth's All-CCC senior Dan DeVaux (Wethersfield, Conn.) hit the shot of the game on a handoff. The guard stretched over his defender, hitting the deep three on the fadeaway and taking contact to capitalize on the rare four-point play.
The Fighting Scots turned the ball over in their next possession and then got hit with an unfortunate series of fouls. In a matter of a minute, the game went from tied to Wentworth holding a 66-59 advantage.
Gordon was never able to get closer than five again.
Despite the Leopards cooling down in the second half, they still shot almost 46 percent from the field as a team. Jason Ganley (Northbridge, Mass.) fought through first-half foul trouble to score a team-high 14 points. Wentworth's spread attack ended up the difference as eight players scored at least eight points in the game. DeVaux continued his career at least another game with 13 points, all coming in the second half. Ben Kizel (Short Hills, N.J.), Sam Knollmeyer (Hampton, N.H.) and Stephen Azums (Hyde Park, Mass.) all registered 10 points. Azums added a double-double off the bench.
Duvivier was the player of the game with 33 points in 24 points of action. He hit a season-high 13 free throws and gathered seven boards. Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) saw his storied career coming to a closer with a final double-double at 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jaren Yang (San Francisco, Calif.) led all players with five assists.
