Gordon finishes regular season with 74-66 win over Salve Regina

Garrisson Duvivier (26 points) had a big afternoon against Salve Regina

(Amesbury MA) The Scots finished the regular season with a 74-66 win over Salve Regina in Newport (RI) on Saturday afternoon.

Gordon (15-10) needed the win to take fourth place in the Commonwealth Coast Conference and earn a home game (Tuesday 7PM) against Wentworth in the first round of the CCC tournament.

The Scots are in the same bracket as top-seed Nichols and #8 UNE.  The Nor’Easters have upset higher seeded teams in the first round the last two post-seasons.  Last year it was Wentworth and the year before it was Nichols.

The game with Salve Regina (8-16) was close.  The Seahawks trailed by just three points (61-58) with 4:21 to go.

Gordon had done well inside all afternoon as nineteen second chance points and forty points in the paint suggests.  Consecutive layups by Garrisson Duvivier and Jaren Yang gained GC separation and five-of-six made free throws in the last minute finished off the team from Newport.

Garrisson was Garrisson – 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 steals.

Sam Johnson had his 16th double/double

Sam Johnson was Sam Johnson – 13 points, and 16 rebounds.  This was Sam’s sixteenth double/double of the season.

Jaren Yang had a marvelous second half – 13 points including 8-for-8 from the foul line.

Those stats were wonderful but the one I liked the best was Gordon having only NINE turnovers.  The last time that number was matched was during an NCAA post-season loss to Williams three years ago.

With few turnovers and a strong inside presence, the Scots could play three more games and be standing behind a banner.

Efficiency

Jaren Yang was eight-for-eight at the line in the second half.

Garrisson Duvivier 26

Sam Johnson 22

Jaren Yang 13

David Blackwell 12 (12 points)

Gordon 86

Salve Regina 60

The Seahawks will face Endicott, at Endicott, on Tuesday night.  Last meeting between those two resulted in a 35-point SR defeat.

Gordon’s last-meeting win over Wentworth was hopefully a turning point in our relationship with the team from Boston.  Tuesday night’s game should be a good one.

Box from the game.

Cooper Wirkala’s two free throws in the closing second sealed the win for Oceanside

Why is this so late?  Saturday morning I learned that my nephew’s son was playing in a high school tournament game that afternoon in Augusta, Maine.  Off I went with my equipment and gave the game coverage.  In it my nephew’s son cashed two free throws in the final seconds to separate his team from the opposition.