(Game #26 – Anna Maria) Anna Maria Avenges an Earlier Loss and Knocks Gordon Out of the Playoffs

By Peter McClelland

(Paxton) – Coach Mike Schauer was so upset by the loss that he wouldn’t speak to me afterwards.  So my hope (as I’ve done all season) of, letting the coaches tell the story and I fill in a few statistical gaps here and there, was dealt a serious blow.

Anyhow, Gordon took a surprisingly early exit from the Commonwealth Coast Conference playoffs as they were upset by the Anna Maria Amcats, 75-67, on Tuesday evening in Paxton.

Gordon had routed the Amcats a mere 12 days ago, 73-50, in Wenham and Anna Maria, despite playing at home, didn’t appear to be capable of ending the Scot’s season so abruptly. 

“Mike (Schauer) came in to the office before the game and told me that he knew that we were going to shoot better than we did at Gordon,” said Amcat coach Dave Shea after the game.  That would have to be one that coach Schauer wishes he hadn’t be so right on!

Anna Maria’s shooting improvement was extraordinary; 20 for 63 at Gordon, 28 for 63 in this one.   Their 3-point shooting showed remarkable improvement as well; 4 for 27 at Gordon, 11 for 20 in this one.

The Scots, on the other hand, had similar stats to the first game and those numbers have usually been enough to carry Gordon to victories.  But the Scots didn’t have the necessary defensive answers in this one.

Those attending this one will come away raving about the shooting shows put on by the Amcats’ Matt Brennan and Gordon’s Joe Witherspoon.  It seemed as if any time either of them touched the ball something good happened for their team. 

Those chants of “Matt-ee, Bren-nan,” showed that the home crowd knew he was having a great game.  After all he is the leading scorer in the CCC averaging 22 points per game.  In this one he had that many in the first half!  Matty finished with 33.

 Joe clicked on every type of shot on his way to 32.  He seemed to have his greatest success with little floaters in the lane.

“What a show those two put on, “said coach Shea, “but they really offset each other.  It was what the rest of the players did that made the difference in the outcome.”

Matt Brennan scored Anna Maria’s first 12 points in less than 3 minutes but Gordon only trailed 12-8.  That lead increased to 17-10 before the Scots rolled off 10 straight to grab the lead, 20-17 with 11 ½ to go in the half.  But the Amcats had long-range weapons that could bring them back in a hurry and sure enough they regained the lead 27-23 with 7 ½ left.  The next 11 Gordon points belonged to Joe Witherspoon and the Scots started to pull away 34-27 with 4 minutes until halftime.  Later it got to 41-32 in the last minute before a free throw by Roy Philbrick and a last-ditch 3 by Matt Brennan cut the halftime lead to 41-36.

Gordon staggered out of the gate in the second half and quickly lost the lead and fell behind 51-43 with 14 ½ left.  It began to look as if the Amcats would get a comfortable lead.  The Scots, however, put together a 9-2 spurt and were right back in it, 53-52.  The Scots hung close and finally with four minutes left tied the score at 65 on Joe Witherspoon’s jumper off the glass. 

The last four minutes were a nightmare for coach Schauer and the Scots and an unfortunate ending to a great season.  During this stretch Anna Maria gave Gordon a dose of patient offense with points at the end of it.  The Scots came up empty on 7 of its last 8 possessions.

The killer possession was in the last minute, with Anna Maria ahead 71-67, when Casey Lefebvre missed both free throws but Matt Brennan got the rebound and was fouled.  He didn’t miss his two so instead of having the ball down by four Gordon went down by six.  This one was over.

Casey Lefebvre collected 15 points while Michael Geoffroy added 12.  14 of Lefebvre’s points came in the second half.

Scott Beebe contributed 11 for Gordon.

If I could have spoken with coach Schauer afterwards I would have commended him for changing, in one season, the Gordon reputation.  After a while this season teams played Gordon knowing it would take a special effort to beat them.  No longer was a win by Gordon considered an upset.  And that is an important step for this program to have taken.  Hats off to you, Mike, Travis, Derrick, and the team for a job well done.

(Game #25 – New England) Gordon Says Goodbye to Seniors with 20th Win

By Peter McClelland

(Wenham) – “This afternoon was a time that belonged to our five seniors (Scott Beebe, Joe Witherspoon, Josh Sylvester, Tim Shaw, and Jamie Van Dyke),” said Gordon coach Mike Schauer after the Scots dispatched visiting New England College, 83-63, at the Bennett Center on Saturday afternoon for their 20th win of the season.

“I’m so proud of them,” added coach Schauer.  “They more than anyone else, including the coaching staff, are the reason we’ve been so successful this year.  And it’s not just their abilities it’s the caliber of people they are.”  The seniors and their parents were introduced to the crowd before the game.

This has been a tough season for New England College.  They finished 2-22 and were 1-15 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference.  “We’re on page one and trying to build a program like Gordon has,” said Pilgrim coach Charlie Mason afterwards.  “Gordon’s got great kids that work real hard.  They play very well together.  Just take a look at the physiques.  Look at the commitment they made to getting better.”

And better they’ve gotten.  “Twenty wins was one of our goals,” said coach Schauer.  “I told them that we needed to accomplish something that can’t come off the shelf.  People will remember that this team had a 20-win season no matter what happens from here on out.”

The Pilgrims grabbed an early 4-2 lead after Peter Nelson converted a missed shot and then put in a jumper just as the 35-second clock ran out.  “Nelson had a big game for us and he’s going to get better,” said coach Mason.

That was the end of the good news for the Pilgrims, however.  They trailed just 7-6 when they were victimized by Gordon’s shooting accuracy.  Five different Scots delivered and five minutes later Gordon had NEC on the ropes, 21-6.  The Scots carried that margin (42-27) to the locker room but not before freshman John Beebe gave his brother (Scott) a shooting lesson by nailing two 3’s in the last minute.

Hayes Murray put on a show in the second half.  Few opposing teams realize it but he is the team’s most accurate 3-point shooter and next year he’ll get the kind of attention Scott Beebe has had to endure this season.  But that’s next year and this year he gets wide open looks.  The score was, 45-32, when the Gordon passers turned up 3 open shots for Hayes.  The talented junior connected on all three to jack the score to, 54-32, and this game was essentially over.

“New England challenged us to make perimeter shots and Hayes delivered for us,” said coach Schauer.  Hayes led all scorers with 24 points.  Coach Schauer wasn’t as thrilled with the technical foul Hayes picked up in the first half for questioning a referee’s view of the game.

Coach Schauer opted to start senior captain Tim Shaw in this one.  In the spirit of the servant leader that Tim has been for this team he assisted on Hayes Murray’s first 3-point basket to start the game.  He returned late in the second half with the crowd begging him to shoot.  He got in close enough to shoot but once again gave up his own shot to give Alex Yeats a resounding dunk opportunity.  This kid is a keeper!

Joe Witherspoon added 15 points and Elliott Blackstone contributed 13 making all three long-range shots. 

Peter Nelson paced NEC with 23 while Tim LaTorra added 17 along with 11 rebounds.

The Scots have finished the regular season with a 20-5 record.  Their record in the CCC was 13-3.  Ahead are the playoffs on Tuesday evening.  Realistically, the Scots have a good chance of getting by any opponent they have to face in the first round from the other division because they haven’t lost to any of them.  The second round, on Thursday, is a different story.  They could run up against either Colby-Sawyer or Endicott on the road.  Both of those teams were able to mess up the normally potent Gordon offense for road losses.  The championship game is next Saturday.

(Game #24 – UNE) Gordon Rides Strong First Half to 19th Win

By Peter McClelland

(Biddeford, Maine) – Gordon put together several scoring runs in the first half and built a comfortable cushion that carried them through a stumbling second half and on to a, 68-51, win over the University of New England Nor’Easters at Biddeford in Commonwealth Coast Conference action on Thursday night.

The victory pushes the Scots to a terrific 19-5 overall and 12-3 in the CCC.  UNE drops to 9-15 overall and 5-10 in the CCC.  Despite the losing record, however, the Nor’Easters have secured the 4th and final spot in the CCC North and will join the Scots in the playoffs starting next Tuesday.

“I’m not too frustrated because it was a win,” said Gordon coach Mike Schauer afterwards, “but we need to play better if we are to be serious contenders for the CCC title.”  Last time against UNE coach Schauer was able to clear his bench but not in this one.

This game might have been a whole lot closer if UNE’s top scorer Nyaten Gaye (22 points in the first game at Gordon) had played.  He was with the team but not in uniform.    “I don’t have a comment on why he wasn’t playing,” said UNE coach Dave Labbe after the game.

Needless to say, UNE struggled to score consistently and it got them in trouble in the first half.  The Nor’Easters had an early 8-5 lead before Gordon ran off nine straight to grab the lead for good, 14-8.  UNE answered with a 4-point play by Mark Regis but Gordon ran off 10 in a row and the score became 24-12.  A few minutes later the Scots clicked on 8 unanswered points and built up a 35-17 advantage with two minutes left in the half.  

“Gordon puts five good players on the court at all times and it’s tough to defend them,” said coach Labbe.  “They’re a veteran team and it shows.”

UNE paid special attention to Scott Beebe.  “I think they had a box-and-one going against Scott,” said coach Schauer.  “He handled it beautifully.  A lot of times great players in that situation will try and force things but he never did.  He just let our other players win the game.  He’s a star player who was willing to take a subservient role for the sake of the team.”

Leading the way for Gordon were the usual suspects – Josh Sylvester (18 points), Joe Witherspoon (16 points/10 rebounds) and Hayes Murray (12 points).   An aggressive man-to-man defense forced 15 turnovers in that decisive first half with a number of them resulting in fast break lay-ups. 

UNE made things entertaining in the second half with a scrambling style that gave the Scots fits at times.  However, the closest UNE got was 37-24 early in the second half.  “We’re not very deep so we can’t scramble around and press for 40 minutes,” said coach Labbe, “but I was as proud as heck at the way our guys competed tonight.  It sure was better than the last time (96-57 loss) we played.”

Coach Schauer wasn’t as thrilled with his team.  “We have practiced a bit dispassionately the last few days and that’s the way we played at times tonight.  However, it was a win and a road win at that.”

Next for Gordon is the regular season finale at home against struggling New England College on Saturday afternoon.  The Scots buried the Pilgrims in Henniker earlier.  Who’d have imagined that a Gordon mens’ basketball team could have a chance to win 20 games in a season?

After the CCC games on Saturday we will learn who our first round opponent will be on Tuesday.  It is almost certain the Scots will be on the road.
 

(Game #23 – Wentworth) Joe Witherspoon Leads Gordon Past Wentworth

By Peter McClelland

(Boston) – “And while you’re at it, Joe, could you drive the bus home?”

“I told the coaches afterwards,” said Gordon coach Mike Schauer, “that we lose this game if we don’t have him (Joe Witherspoon) wearing #34 for us.”

The Scots certainly needed Joe’s performance (28 points) to get by the stubborn Wentworth Leopards, 66-50, in Commonwealth Coast Conference play on Saturday afternoon. 

The win moves Gordon to 18-5 overall and 11-3 in the CCC.  Wentworth drops to 4-17 and 2-11 in the CCC.

“In this one we literally became like an NBA team,” explained coach Schauer.  “We just dumped the ball into the post and stood around and watched him (Joe).   And fortunately he made enough plays to let us win.”

The final score might suggest an easy win but that wasn’t the way it was.  Both teams had hot and cold streaks in this game.  Early the Scots went down 11-5 only to surge ahead 16-11.  Then it was Wentworth’s turn as they went up 27-20 only to allow the Scots to rally back 30-27.  The score at halftime had Gordon leading 37-32 but this one was far from over.

Eight minutes into the second half Wentworth had rallied to tie the score at 48 on the strength of a couple of free throws by Nick Stewart.

“Too bad they didn’t stop the game shortly after that,” said Wentworth coach Harry McShane afterwards. 

Those last eight minutes were a nightmare for the home team.  Wentworth had only two free throws to show for it.  In fact, they didn’t make a field goal during the last 12 minutes.  “We just didn’t make shots,” said coach McShane.  “At times we settled for the quick shot when we needed to be more patient.”

Meanwhile, Joe Witherspoon carried Gordon to victory.  First it was a 3-point play the hard way.  Then it was two free throws.  Next trip, in the prettiest play of the game, he gracefully guided Hayes Murray’s missed three back in.  This put Gordon up by seven (55-48) with four minutes left and then the only uncertainty was the final score.

“We were conscious that their strength is perimeter shooting and we tried to negate that as much as possible,” said coach McShane.  “Anytime you can hold (Scott) Beebe to two points and (Hayes) Murray to one point you think you’re in pretty good shape. But they’ve got other guys who can hurt you and it was (Joe) Witherspoon in this one.”

Gordon used a man-to-man defense early but switched to a zone when Wentworth got off to its fast start.  Later in the second half it was more man-to-man defense and that second half defense contributed to the Leopard’s poor shooting when the game was on the line.  “It made me happy,” said coach Schauer, “to see us play that defense better after the way it went against Anna Maria and early in this game.

Joe wasn’t the only one to play well inside for Gordon.  “Alex Yeats continues to contribute,” said coach Schauer.   The 6’6” freshman tallied 8 points in close on 4 for 7 shooting.  And for the second game in a row he’s shown that he can make a short jumper.

Elliott Blackstone was the other Scot in double figures with ten points.  He was perfect from the field (3 for 3) and the line (4 for 4).

Wentworth’s top scorer was Nick Stewart (14) followed by Earl Faulk (11).

Next up for Gordon is a trip to Biddeford, Maine on Thursday evening to face the UNE Nor’Easters in the last regular season away game.
 

(Game #22 – Anna Maria) Seniors Lead Gordon Past Visiting Anna Maria

 By Peter McClelland

(Wenham) – Part of a coach’s job is motivating his players.  “I really challenged our seniors because of how poorly they had played (losses to Colby-Sawyer and Endicott as well as a near-loss to ENC) the last week or so,” explained Gordon coach Mike Schauer.  And what a response he got!

Led by seniors Scott Beebe (28 points/10 rebounds) and Joe Witherspoon (13 points/12 rebounds) Gordon made it look easy defeating visiting Anna Maria, 73-50, in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at the Bennett Center on Thursday evening.

The Scots are now 10-3 in the CCC and 17-5 overall.  The loss puts Anna Maria at 6-6 in CCC play and 11-10 for the season.

Once Gordon got away from their usual man-to-man defense early in the first half and switched to a zone the game headed quickly downhill for the Amcats.  “That zone affected us,” said Amcat coach Dave Shea, “but we still had plenty of shots.  In the first half most of the shots were from inside the arc by both teams.  We just didn’t convert inside.”

“We had to have that zone,” said coach Schauer.  “Matt Brennan is probably the best offensive player in our league and we showed early that we couldn’t defend him in a man defense.”

When Brennan drilled a three 8 ½ minutes into the half the visitors were on top, 12-10, and looking to pull the upset.  However, over the next 7 ½ minutes Anna Maria became nearly as cold as it was outside the Bennett Center. 

While the Amcats missed 11 of their next 12 shots and committed several turnovers Gordon put together a stretch of super offense and ran off a, 22-2, spurt.   The Amcat’s 2-point lead became a, 33-14, deficit with four minutes left in the half and the visitors never recovered.  Alex Yeats converted a rebound and nailed a short jumper while Scott Beebe added three long ones to spark this surge.

Gordon’s lead was cut to, 37-22, when Matt O’Malley sank a half-court buzzer-beater.

“I told our kids at halftime that we were still in this one,” said coach Shea.  “We were getting plenty of shots and it was just a matter of whether we could heat up or not.”

Unfortunately, for Anna Maria their shooting did not improve (1 for 13 from 3-point range) and the issue became the margin of victory not who the victor would be.  The Amcats did narrow things a bit to, 58-44, with nine minutes left but three more three’s by Scott Beebe and an Elliott Blackstone lay-up sent Gordon comfortably ahead, 69-44, and the suspense was over.

Matt Brennan and Sean Walsh each scored 14 for Anna Maria.  Brennan added 12 rebounds.

Josh Sylvester (12) and Elliott Blackstone (10) reached double figures for the Scots.

The next Gordon game is Saturday in Boston against Wentworth.  The Scots drubbed Wentworth at home by 20 points earlier in the season.

(Game #21 – Endicott) Endicott Repays Gordon for Earlier CCC Loss

By Peter McClelland

(Beverly) – Endicott avenged an earlier loss to Gordon with a good display of timely outside shooting and defeated the Scots, 79-67, in front of a loud and active crowd on Tuesday evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference action.  The 6 o’clock start seemed to bring out most of the Endicott student body while Gordon had a nice contingent on hand too.

“We’ve been playing well but that the best team we’ve beaten record-wise, for sure,” explained Endicott coach Mike Plansky afterwards.  Endicott is now 12-8, but more importantly, 10-2 in the CCC Northern Division.  The loss drops Gordon to 16-5 and 9-3 in the CCC.

“The harsh reality now is that if we’re going to win the CCC championship we’ll probably have to do it here (Endicott) or at Colby-Sawyer where we haven’t played well,” said Gordon coach Mike Schauer.  “It’s a tough scenario right now.”

Coach Schauer said that this one was, “a little like Colby-Sawyer.”   The crowd was loud and the music ear-splitting.  And the Scots got off to a slow start.  The Gulls took advantage and with a 9-point run got up, 14-4, with 12 minutes left. 

The Scots also got a taste of the long ball.  Usually, they’re hurting other teams this way but not tonight.  The Gulls were a warm, 10 for 19, from beyond the arc.  Gordon, on the other hand, struggled at 7 for 21 from out deep.

“We’ve become a better offensive team,” added coach Plansky.  “We’re shooting 45% for the season and usually you shoot even better at home.  We didn’t show much of a shooting touch in that loss to Gordon earlier.”

The Scots were down, 39-30, at halftime.  “I made one recommendation and walked out of the locker room,” said coach Schauer.  “We finally competed in the second half.”

With better defense and a little more accuracy on offense the Scots mounted a comeback.  Abandoned was the long shot as drives and short jumpers became the order of the day.  And when John Beebe fed Alex Yeats for a layup things had tightened to, 51-49, with 12 ½ minutes left.  This game was there for the taking.

But the Gulls weren’t about to let it get away.  Zach Ellis (he had 20 against Colby-Sawyer) followed with a 3 and Endicott went off on a 12-2 run that closed the comeback door.  “To Endicott’s credit was their ability to make big shots,” said coach Schauer.  “A couple of times in the second half we got the game close but they made backbreaking plays to keep us from having a chance to get ahead.”

A surprising twist was Gordon’s inability to handle the Gulls’ press.  A number of the Scot’s 20 turnovers were deep in the backcourt and led to baskets or foul shots. 

“The press was new from the last time we met,” said coach Plansky.  “The other thing we focused on was trying to pressure the 3’s a little more.  We didn’t think that they could make enough 2’s to beat us.”

Junior Jeremy Currier had a huge game for Endicott.  His 8 for 11 shooting included 5 threes.  He totaled 26 points for the evening.  When Gordon narrowed things to, 72-67, with a minute left he drilled three foul shots in a row and then grabbed the rebound on the next one to help run out the clock.

Hayes Murray and Josh Sylvester paced Gordon with 14 points apiece.  Scott Allenby added 11.

“I thought that Alex Yeats gave us a lot of energy tonight,” said coach Schauer.  “John Beebe was a contributor too.  He will always help us because he’s a competitor like his brother (Scott).”

Gordon entertains Anna Maria on Thursday night while Endicott travels to New England College.
 

(Game #20 – ENC) Gordon Downs ENC and Moves to Tie at Top of CCC

By Peter McClelland

(Wenham) – Another chapter in The Rivalry is in the books. 

Gordon found answers down the stretch and pulled out a, 73-66, victory over Eastern Nazarene College at the Bennett Center Saturday night before enthusiastic supporters from both schools in Commonwealth Coast Conference action.

This was win #16 for the Scots and their 9-2 CCC record puts them into a 3-way tie with Colby-Sawyer and Endicott atop the Northern Division.  How huge is Gordon’s game next Tuesday night at Endicott?

“This rivalry with Gordon goes a long way back,” explained ENC first year coach Corey Zink afterwards.  “Mike (Schauer) and I are both just learning about it.”

“The crowd was simply amazing,” added coach Schauer.  “Both schools have a great fan base.  I haven’t been here long enough to know where this ranks as far as crowd noise goes.”  Put it up there with the best, coach!

In any good rivalry the records coming in are incidental and that was the case in this one.  ENC was 7-11 and Gordon 15-4 but it didn’t matter.  ENC put themselves into a position to steal this one but just didn’t have the veteran leadership down the stretch to pull it off.

“We competed hard,” said coach Zink, “but we made some mistakes down the stretch and it cost us the game.”  But what mistakes they were – two turnovers, two shots blocked, an air ball free throw, and a missed dunk.  And this all happened in the last three minutes after the score was tied at 65!

The missed dunk probably was the killer.  Who would have expected, arguably the best player on the floor, Jamal Lyons to miss that shot on a breakaway?   But he did so instead of ENC taking a 2-point lead and their crowd going nuts the Scots got the ball back.   Hayes Murray followed with the most important 3-point shot of the 13 Gordon made during the game, at the two-minute mark, and the Scots never trailed again.

“People are so conscious of Scott (Beebe) and Joe (Witherspoon) but they fail to realize that Hayes (36 for 72) is very accurate from long range,” said coach Schauer.  “He hit a huge one tonight.”

After getting very few clean looks at Colby-Sawyer on Thursday in New London the Scots took full advantage of first half openings against the Crusaders man defense.  Gordon had six different players connect in 9 for 11 long-range shooting.  They erased a 7-5 deficit with 9 points in a row and built that lead to 44-33 at halftime. 

The major struggle for Gordon in the first half was coping with all the fouls their inside people picked up.  When Joe Witherspoon picked up his second foul coach Schauer went deep into his bench for important minutes from Alex Yeats and Kevin Zener.  “Those minutes those two young players gave us were crucial,” said coach Schauer.

The ENC crowd was a factor in the second half.  The team was down but the crowd wasn’t and when the Crusaders started to heat up (ENC was only 1 for 8 with 3’s in the first half) the Scots were in trouble.  They started to look as if they’d played two games in New Hampshire this week. 

Grievous turnovers produced a number of breakaways and Edson Cardoso found his outside touch (three long ones) and the Crusaders came all the way back to tie things at 57 with nine minutes remaining.  They even pulled ahead 62-60 on a nice backdoor cut by co-captain Jon Chesley.  But that was the visitors’ only lead in the second half and they couldn’t hold it.

Josh Sylvester had plenty to do with Gordon getting the lead back and keeping it.  He hit a three to get the lead back and then defended (2 blocks) and rebounded to preserve the victory.  “The kid is an awfully good player,” said coach Schauer.  “He also ended up covering one of the best players (Jamal Lyons) in our league.”  Josh has shot 85 for 140 (60%) for the season.

Jamal Lyons paced ENC with a double/double (23 points and 15 rebounds).  “He’s a handful and we just didn’t have anything we could do to stop him,” said coach Schauer.

Josh Sylvester led Gordon with 17 points followed by Hayes Murray (16), Joe Witherspoon (13) and Scott Beebe (12).  Matt Chewning did a nice job defending Scott but an important play, for Gordon, was Scott faking Matt into a 3-shot foul with just two seconds left in the first half.  Scott sank all three shots.

Jon Chesley (15), Edson Cardoso (14), and Matt Chewning (12) had double figures for ENC.

Before the game Scott Beebe and Joe Witherspoon were presented basketballs commemorating their reaching 1000 points in their Gordon careers.
 

(Game #19 – Colby-Sawyer) Gordon Falls Asleep and Awakes with Second CCC Loss

By Peter McClelland

(New London, NH) – Let Gordon coach Mike Schauer explain this one.  “We did not show up tonight ready to give an effort consistent with the meaning of the game.”

Just six exits north of Tuesday night’s laugher with New England College the Scots fell flat on their collective faces at Colby-Sawyer, 54-44, and have dropped out of the top spot in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Northern Division. 

Granted an 8-2 CCC record is awfully good and a 15-4 overall record isn’t too shabby either.  However, any hope of winning the CCC playoffs, after the regular season, now looks bleak because as long as Colby-Sawyer is a potential opponent the Scots are in trouble.  Maybe another opponent, like CCC North leader Endicott, will keep Gordon away from having to play C/S again in tournament play.  After sitting through this game you’d have to hope that would be the case.

So many things went wrong for the Scots offensively in this one.  The Charger defense had a lot to do with it.  “I thought we did a nice job defensively,” understated C/S coach Bill Foti. 

What the Chargers did was play the perimeter very aggressively and we all know how Gordon loves the 3-point shot.  Unable to create comfortable offense seemed to throw Gordon’s normally reliable shooters into a tizzy.  They were only able to hit 7 of 25 three’s.  The Scots had by far their lowest point output (previous low was 51 against Roger Williams) of the season. 

Gordon’s two big guns (Scott Beebe and Joe Witherspoon) weren’t much help in this one.  Scott came up empty on all ten attempts while Joe was into foul trouble early and often and contributed a mere four points.  Gordon won’t win many more games with performances like that.

To say that C/S jumped on Gordon early is putting it mildly.  Seven minutes into the game the Chargers were ahead, 15-2.  “We acted as if we weren’t sure we were supposed to be playing against Colby-Sawyer in a first place game,” said coach Schauer. 

As it turned out that early cushion was what the Chargers carried the rest of the way to victory.  “We’ve got a nice club defensively and we really set the tone early,” explained coach Foti. 

Gordon fell further behind (38-19) early in the second half but rode Hayes Murray’s long-range shooting to close to 48-38 with nine minutes left.  You sensed that if others heated up this one might get interesting but nothing materialized.  “We had looks but didn’t make shots,” added coach Schauer.

Hayes Murray led all scorers with 20 points.  That was his highest scoring total of this season.  Outside threat Collin Bray paced the Chargers with 14 while senior Ethan Betts added 10 points and was a dominating presence on the boards with nine rebounds.

Ahead for Gordon is ENC at home on Saturday night.  Expect the Bennett Center to be rocking with lots of crowd involvement no matter how the games go.  Gordon squeaked by the Crusaders in the season opener back in November.  The Scots need to turn things around in a hurry because after ENC they visit Endicott on Tuesday evening.

The Chargers, on the other hand, look like a team that will be hard to stop the rest of the way.  They have won the CCC tournament the last two seasons.

Just a parting whine about New Hampshire.  Gordon was at New England College on Tuesday and at Colby-Sawyer on Thursday.  Is there some reason why neither school played the national anthem before our basketball games with them?  

(Game #18 – New England) Gordon Routs New England College in Prep for Colby-Sawyer Showdown

By Peter McClelland

(Henniker/NH) – Gordon took care of business on the road Tuesday night turning in a fine two-way effort to run away from undermanned New England College, 82-55, in Commonwealth Coast Conference action. 

The Scots move to a lofty 15-3 record overall to go along with an impressive 8-1 CCC slate.

The win sets the stage for Thursday night’s showdown with Colby-Sawyer at New London.  More on that later.

This was a night when Gordon displayed great shooting (29 for 57 = 52%) and tough defending.  That defending really became a factor in the second half when the Pilgrims made just 8 of 27 shots.

Gordon coach Mike Schauer did not hesitate afterwards to excuse the NEC performance.  “They were clearly undermanned.  Their best scorer (Joe Shaw – 18 per game) was on the bench injured.  They played very well in the first half without him but struggled to find offense in the second half.”

At no time in this one did Gordon struggle to find offense.  “We’re a tough team to guard,” added coach Schauer.  “The team has become more and more unselfish and that helps us turn up good shots.  And we have kids who can make them.”

What made this game very competitive for a while was that the Pilgrims were hot early.  And when they cooled off a bit they had the heart to withstand a 20-2 Gordon surge that put them down 26-12 and come back to 34-31 with two minutes left in the half.

However, the next ten minutes of basketball could be included in a Gordon highlight reel.  NEC couldn’t buy a basket on the few good looks they turned up while, at the same time, the Gordon shooters went crazy.  The damage?  25 points in a row and a contest (34-31) became a rout (59-31) by the 12-minute mark of the second half.  

“Gordon is very good in their ability to score points in bunches,” explained disappointed Pilgrim coach Charlie Mason after the game.  “We wanted to keep it from happening to us but that wasn’t the way it worked out.  We hoped in the second half to be more patient and take advantage of their aggressive defense but we didn’t answer the bell on that one either.”

Trying to sort out the fast start in the second half Coach Schauer admitted that they had made a defensive adjustment.  “We were getting overextended on #15 (Paul Barker) and he was killing us (12 points in the first half).”

The second half blowout gave Coach Schauer a chance to lighten up the minutes of his starters and clear his bench.  A baseline jumper by Alex Yeats and a long three by Jason Russell highlighted the efforts of the bench players.

The Gordon starters came up big on the scoresheet.  Twelve for 17 from beyond the arc gives you an idea of the kind of night it was on offense.  Joe Witherspoon led all scorers with 19 and Elliott Blackstone had a breakout game with 17.  Scott Beebe was “held” to 15 but spent much of the second half watching his brother John take his place.

“The Beebe kid could be as good as anyone in this conference,” said coach Mason.  “(Joe) Witherspoon is the unknown man.  People forget about him and pay for it.  And (Josh) Sylvester can hurt you too.” 

The Pilgrims will be visiting Gordon later this month for the last regular season match.  NEC now carries a 2-15 overall record with 1-9 of it in CCC play.  They have yet to win a game at home.

So now it has come down to a rematch with Colby-Sawyer.  A mere week ago Gordon squandered a 12-point halftime lead at home and lost their only CCC game to the Chargers.  Thursday night an opportunity comes to right that slipup.  Some streaks will be on the line.  Gordon has never beaten C/S in CCC play.  Gordon has not lost a game on the road (7-0).  C/S has a 40-something winning streak at home in CCC play going.   Could be a memorable evening!
 

(Game #17 – UNE) Scott Beebe and Joe Witherspoon Reach Milestones as Gordon Routs UNE

 By Peter McClelland

(Wenham) – How often does a team have a 1000 point scorer?  How about more than one on a team?  Gordon took this a step further Saturday afternoon by having two players (Scott Beebe & Joe Witherspoon) reach that plateau in the same game.

“It’s a mark of production, consistency, and longevity,” explained Gordon coach Mike Schauer afterwards.  “I am fortunate to coach them.”

Scott and Joe’s special accomplishments were part of a surprisingly, easy, 96-57, win over the University of New England in Commonwealth Coast action at the Bennett Center. 

The Scots are now 14-3 overall and 7-1 in the CCC.  The Nor’easters drop to 7-10 overall and 3-5 in the CCC.

The way this game went defied logic.  In the previous game UNE had rattled off 57 first-half points against tough Anna Maria on the road in a blowout victory.  “That win at Anna Maria really worried me, “said coach Schauer.  “This was as nervous as I’ve been all year for a game.”

“The CCC is a good league,” added UNE coach Dave Labbe.  “If you don’t bring it every night you’re going to run into a game like this.  You can’t draw a lot from one game to another.”

The significant game stats were in shooting percentage (Gordon 37 for 67 for 55%/  UNE 13 for 52 for 25%) and rebounds (Gordon 48/  UNE 30). 

Early on it became apparent that Gordon would be able to do pretty much what it wanted to do on offense.  The Scots usually launch the first open shot but in this they showed a lot more patience and constantly went inside to Joe Witherspoon and Josh Sylvester.  “They like a fast tempo and we tried to be more deliberate, “said coach Schauer.  “This was also one of the few teams we face where we had some size advantages inside.”

Gordon broke open a 12-10 game with a 7-point run that included lay-ups by Joe Witherspoon and Scott Beebe and a three by Gordon’s best 3-point shooter Hayes Murray to pull ahead by nine.  A few minutes later the long-range accuracy kicked in as Joe, Scott, and Hayes drilled threes and now the lead was, 32-15.  Scott’s three in that mix was his 1000th point.  Gordon had a, 49-29, halftime advantage.

Things did not get any better for the visitors in the second half.  Teams have averaged 90 points a game against their man-to-man defense this season and the Scots had plenty of open shots to choose from.  “We played hard,” said coach Labbe, “but they’re a good basketball team with plenty of veteran leadership and it’s tough to cover them.”

Things were respectable at 66-44 with 13 minutes left but a 13-point run put this one in the laugher zone, 79-44, with still 9 ½ minutes to go.  Josh Sylvester was the key to that run with a 3 and two inside shots.  Each coach was able to clear his respective bench for most of the rest of the game.

All five of Gordon’s starters finished in double figures; Scott Beebe (22), Joe Witherspoon (18), Josh Sylvester (16), Hayes Murray (14), and Elliott Blackstone (10).  Josh added 12 rebounds and 7 assists.

Nyaten Gaye paced the Nor’easters with 22 points (he averages 20) including a very good 15-17 from the free throw line. 

On Tuesday Gordon travels to New Hampshire to play against struggling New England College while UNE hosts tough Endicott.

Coach Schauer recalled scoring 1000 points at Wheaton.  “They gave me the ball with the information on it.  I need to tell you, though, that I have no idea where that ball is now.  I remember my teammates and the victories a whole lot more than scoring 1000 points.  Scott and Joe will probably be the same way.”