Seniors Graduate on May 15th

Aaron, Mike, Tim, Ben, Brady, Justin, and Ben do some post-graduation posing.

(Wenham)  I was there and I can confirm it – they graduated! 

Aaron Trigg waits to march to graduation.

I was at Gordon on sunny/breezy Saturday morning (May 15th) and watched Jeff Derr, Aaron Trigg, Brady Bajema, Tim MacDonnell, and Ben Gaskill end their four years among us.

Last time I saw the five of them together was in March in Middlebury (VT) when the home team took out our Scots in the NCAA D3 tourney.  Who knew that Middlebury’s Andrew Locke would block thirteen shots and send Gordon to a first-round exit?

It was good to see all the players’ families together for one last time.  You always imagine that there are games ahead that they will attend but it seldom, if ever, works out. 

There was talk of everyone getting back together when the CCC tournament banner is put on display in the Bennett Center during the 2010-11 season.  That would be special.

I was very impressed with commencement speaker Jim Cymbala.  It wasn’t just the brevity of his remarks but the topic – the importance of prayer.  There was something there for all of us!

Coach Tod Murphy waves to seniors.

One comment that previous Gordon coach Mike Schauer used to make to me when I mentioned a talented player on an opposing team: “The important thing,” he would say, “was to make sure he graduates.”  And here is Tod Murphy at graduation, probably hoping that Aaron, Brady, Tim, Jeff, and Ben weren’t graduating!

Anyone on board knows that there are big changes ahead.  For starters, look at the team picture on Championship Saturday and delete the front row.  However, one of the trademarks of your Scots over the past eight seasons has been to graduate players yet still be able to qualify for the CCC tournament (top eight) every season.  Let’s be optimistic here! 

The other significant change, other than the roster, is the future of the CCC.  My understanding is that in two seasons Gordon and eight other schools (UNE, Endicott, Salve Regina, Roger Williams, Nichols, Curry, Western New England, and Wentworth) will form a new conference.  That will leave Regis, New England, Colby-Sawyer, Anna Maria, and ENC out in the cold for reasons I choose not to guess at.  It will be interesting to see how this all works out.

Anyhow, God bless Aaron, Brady, Tim, Jeff, and Ben.  And God bless your families as well.

Defensive Gem by Tim MacDonnell Seals Championship for Gordon in Title Game

( You Tube coverage of the last 3.6 seconds in Gordon’s win over Curry on 2-27-10 )

Timmy MacDonnell - Defensive gem by the senior preserves Scot win in title game.

Having now seen the video of those last 3.6 seconds, let’s look at what happened, at least as far as I could figure out. 

Brady had been covering Mark Mastrullo the entire game and Aaron had been covering Jarrell Jackson. 

During the final play, Aaron and Brady switched men because the two Curry players crossed so Aaron ends up with Mark in front of the Curry bench.  Brady then has Jarrell.  Meanwhile, Tim is on the other side of the lane with Mike Worrick on the weakside. 

As Mike Worrick drifts out toward the top of the key, Tim does not follow him but stays in the lane guessing at what Curry is up to.

Jarrell Jackson fakes out and then cuts backdoor.  Brady goes for the fake and Jarrell cuts backdoor cleanly.  Philippe Jourdain reads the backdoor cut and throws a bounce pass under Ben Gaskill’s waving arms to where Jarrell will be on his way to the basket. 

However, Tim was already on his way into the passing lane as the bounce pass is released and intercepts the pass cleanly.  He then plants his feet and lofts the ball into the backcourt allowing time to expire. 

Looking at the You Tube coverage, there’s no question that Jarrell was open and no question that the pass was to where Jarrell would have been in easy layup position. 

Tim’s play was remarkable under any circumstances but put it at the end of a conference championship game preserving a 2-point lead and you have to move into a different level of accolade.

Gordon Wins First CCC Men’s Basketball Championship

Gordon team poses afterwards with CCC championship trophy

(Wenham) Gordon 56 Curry 54

The Scots won their first Commonwealth Coast Conference championship Saturday night at the Bennett Center and the first word that comes to mind to describe the game is “exciting.”

In the previous two tourney games, the Scots built up a comfortable lead in the second half and scared none of us in the end game.  Against Curry (15-13), the “comfortable” second half lead was only eight points and it shrank to an alarming two points in the last minute.

Timmy MacDonnell - Cutting the net after earlier cutting in front of a pass receiver to preserve the Gordon win

It’s never a good idea to let an opponent that is trailing by two points have the ball in the last few seconds.  But the Scots did and thankfully, Tim MacDonnell stole the inbounds pass to preserve that narrow lead. 

With the victory, Gordon (24-4) gets an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament at a site and date/time to be announced on Monday.  Gordon got an at-large bid at the end of the 2005-06 season and lost in their opening game to Utica (NY) at Worcester Polytech. 

The Scots took the lead for good with 12 ½ minutes left (40-39) thanks to two Brady Bajema (12 points/3 steals) free throws.  That lead would be eight (53-45) with four minutes left and six (56-50) on an Aaron Trigg (10 points/5 rebounds) layup with 53 seconds left. 

After that, things got verrrrrrrrrrry interesting.  Curry made a couple of shots (56-54) and then ended up with a frontcourt-inbounding situation with 3.6 seconds left.  Many bad, for Gordon, possibilities were easily imagined.  However, Scot defense saved the day as Brady and Aaron heavily defended likely shooters Mark Mastrullo (11 points) and Jarrell Jackson (11 points) and they weren’t open.  Ben Gaskill (6-9) prevented the inbounds passer from attempting any sort of lob pass and Timmy MacDonnell anticipated the interior bounce pass, stole it, and had the good sense to lob the ball down the court to let the clock run out.

Victorious Scots mobbed at game's end

As the buzzer sounded many of the Gordon faithful raced onto the court to congratulate the 2009-10 CCC champions.  Others just stood there in disbelief savoring the moment and trying to quell an accelerated heart rate. 

This was the eighth straight appearance for Gordon in the CCC tournament.  The first three years they lost in the first round.  The next four years they lost in the second round.  This time around, they overwhelmed Endicott and Colby-Sawyer in the first two rounds and then hung on for dear life in the championship event.

The Gordon crowd was loud and persistent and their part in spurring the Scots on over the last three tourney games can’t be underestimated. 

The Scots had an off game shooting, something that three games in five days, as well as practicing at Endicott on Friday instead of at the Bennett Center because of the power outage, will do to you. 

However, defensively the work Brady and Aaron did on Jarrell Jackson and Mark Mastrullo was key to this win.  Gordon can be thankful that neither of those Colonels had a shot at the basket in the crucial final play.

Brady Bajema (12 points) - David Dempsey (10 points)

Curry led in the early going but a David Dempsey (10 points/5 rebounds) layup assisted by Jeff Derr gave Gordon its first lead, 14-13, with 7 ½ to go in the half.  It took a couple of inside moves by Ben Gaskill (9 points/12 rebounds) late to give Gordon a slim 25-24 halftime edge. 

Early in the second half Curry put together a six-point run including a difficult layup by 5-7 Jarrell in traffic to build a 37-33 advantage with 14:50 remaining. 

But shortly thereafter Gordon put Curry in a hole that they couldn’t dig out of.  Over a four-minute span, the Scots went on an eleven-point streak and grabbed an 8-point edge (47-39 – 8:52 left) that Curry spent the rest of the game unsuccessfully trying to overcome.  During this run, the points came from David Dempsey (5), and two each from Jeff Derr, Tim, and Brady.  The Colonels turned the ball over three times during this crucial sequence.

Ben Gaskill awarded co-defensive player of the year in the CCC

Aaron Trigg - Ten points vs Curry and awarded CCC MVP award after the game

The final stats enabled several Gordon players to make progress on the All-Time lists.  Brady has moved ahead of Scott Beebe (1123) into 14th place in the all-time scorer’s list with 1132.  Ben is now third in the all-time rebounding totals with 566 putting him in front of Mike Herr (559).

I have not seen every Gordon game ever played as some suspect but I’m quite sure that this win over Curry and the CCC championship it brought was the Scots top all-time men’s basketball moment.  I wonder how those 1300 on hand will remember it in years to come.  I’m guessing that some of the Gordon faithful will say something like, “Remember the game Timmy MacDonnell stole the ball in the championship game to give Gordon its first CCC title.” 

Greatly appreciated was the rendition of the national anthem by a Gordon student.  I’m a fan of having everyone sing it.

It will be a while before I get over all the happiness and relief winning the CCC championship provided.  I will never cease marveling over the commitment parents from near and afar make to be on hand for these special moments.

box score

Finally the Finals

(In James 4, it talks about making assumptions about tomorrow – “Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”  I got home to Newburyport after the game with writing plans.  Twenty-two hours later the electricity has been restored, for which I am grateful.)

Aaron Trigg (27 points) hits a free throw late in front of a large Scot crowd

(Wenham)  What a game!  The efficiency of the Scots on both ends of the court, combined with the sixth-man level crowd made this a memorable evening.

It also got Gordon (23-4) past the semifinal CCC tourney hump that had eluded them during the past four seasons.

Gordon reached the unfamiliar finals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament with their, 77-58, win over Colby-Sawyer (15-12) at the Bennett Center on Thursday night.

This was the eighth straight CCC postseason for the Scots but just the first time getting to The Big Game on Saturday night. 

Last season Colby-Sawyer ended Gordon’s season in the semifinals up at New London, but not this time.

The Scots took an 11-9 lead, 4 ½ minutes into the game on Aaron Trigg’s 3-pointer and never trailed the rest of the way.

Greg Walker (20 points) hit jumpers, jump hooks, and layups

The Gordon offense was consistently good (51% field goal percentage) from just about everywhere.  Aaron Trigg (27 points), Greg Walker (20 points) and Brady Bajema (16 points) led all scorers and gave the normally tight Charger defense fits all game.

Aaron had the long-ball going (5-for-7), made ten free throws and handed out five assists.

Greg picked up his defense on Jason Chevrefils (he had 19 points in the earlier CS win) and hit short jumpers to avoid the double-teams he faced when getting the ball closer to the basket.

Brady took the ball to the basket more than he has all season, made seven free throws and dished out seven assists.

Gordon’s defense was excellent as well. The CCC’s co-defensive player-of-the-year (Ben Gaskill) combined with Tim MacDonnell to stymie Jon Chaloux – top scorer in the CCC with 18PPG.  The last-game Charger suffered through a four-point game going 0-for-8 from the floor.  Ben also had ten rebounds.

Similar to the Endicott experience on Tuesday night, there was no history to suggest that Colby-Sawyer didn’t have the coaching, players, and big-game experience to give the Scots a bad night.  They had beaten Gordon three straight, including a 90-64 rout last February at the Bennett Center.

The Chargers were as close as 32-29 in the first half and the Scots lead at halftime was a very uncomfortable, 36-31.

The Scots came out in the second half unaware, apparently, about what was supposed to happen and built the lead to 43-32 in the first three minutes.  Twice Gordon broke down CS’s interior defense with Greg Walker as the finisher.

The lead was still double digits (51-41) with 13 ½ minutes left before Corey Willis nailed an NBA range trey to instantly cut the margin to seven.  The worrywarts from the Endicott game now resurfaced at the Bennett Center.

But Aaron answered with a 3 of his own and started Gordon on a 13-2 point spree over seven minutes that made things 64-46 with 6 ½ minutes to go.  Aaron had a couple of threes, Greg had a couple of layups, and Brady had three free throws.

Things got a bit dicey over the next two minutes as CS ran six straight but the Chargers would get no closer than twelve the rest of the way.  Brady and Aaron combined for 9-of-10 free throws in the end game. 

The Gordon crowd has been spectacular in both games.  They chose to give Charger freshman Corey Willis special chanting attention and he ended up shooting just 3-for-12.

Jon Chaloux - Held below 18PPG average by Ben Gaskill and Tim MacDonnell

The only negative I heard from The Pit was their late-game chanting of “over-rated” in senior Jon Chaloux’s direction after he fouled out of his last game.  Earlier that chant made sense but not when an excellent player has just ended his career.

In the same vein, it was classy of Aaron to step away from the foul line late in the game and applaud CS senior captain Dave Rosso when he exited for the final time.

The Curry Colonels (15-12) will be the Big Game opponent Saturday night.  They have been in the Big Game three of the last four years winning two years ago. 

Gordon defeated Curry, 74-68, in Wenham on January 23rd.  In that one, the Scots had 26 turnovers (all-time high?) but nailed eleven 3’s.  Curry features two CCC first-teamers – Jarrell Jackson and Mark Mastrullo. 

box score

Gordon Routs Endicott to Win CCC Tourney Opener

 

Tim MacDonnell launches a free throw during the closing minutes of Gordon's defeat of Endicott.

(Wenham) Gordon (22-4) cruised past Endicott (12-13) in surprisingly easy fashion, 73-52, before a huge home crowd to win the opening round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament on Tuesday evening.

The win puts the Scots into the Final Four for the 4th straight season.  Thursday night the opponent will be Colby-Sawyer which did a number on Nichols (82-65) tonight at home. 

Thursday’s game is at the Bennett Center (7PM) and hopefully the same supportive crowd will be on hand again.  For this game, I saw sections of stands opened up that I didn’t know existed and there were students filling them!

Gordon/Endicott games in recent years are always close.  In two meetings, the teams split the results.  Endicott broke a tie in the last minute in December to win at the Bennett Center.  In late January, Gordon broke a tie in the last two minutes to win.

That’s why this one was so surprising.  Gordon took the lead midway through the first half (13-12) on a JT Himmelstein trey and never trailed thereafter.

A 9-2 run over the final three minutes of the half put the Scots in front, 33-21, at halftime.  Gordon’s last three points came from a how-many-times-have-we-seen-this corner shot by Aaron Trigg on a pass from Brady Bajema.

Again, those familiar with the rivalry expected some sort of Gull response in the second half but after Mike Rhodes’ layup cut the halftime lead to 38-27 the Scots rattled off seven straight.  Now the Gulls were in serious trouble, 45-27, …………. but fifteen minutes were left. 

However, even the worrywarts in the crowd began to relax several minutes later after Gordon exploded for thirteen straight to put this one away, 65-36, with 4:40 remaining.  Jeff Derr started this run with a crowd-pleasing breakaway jam.  Brady also came up big in this stretch with a trey, two assists, and two foul shots. 

The Gordon defense was extraordinary from beginning to end.  Brady shut down Graham Whitelaw (12.5 points per game) completely.  For that matter, Endicott didn’t have anyone score in double figures. 

Aaron Trigg - CCC MVP gets 16 vs Endicott

Brady Bajema - CCC first teamer gets 14 against Endicott

The CCC released information today that most of us already knew – Aaron (Player-of-the-Year) and Brady (1st team All-League) are terrific players. 

Aaron led all scorers with 16 points and in the process moved past Steve Heintz into 4th place on the all-time Gordon scorers’ list with 1546 points. 

Brady had five assists to go with 14 points.  The CCC’s best free throw shooter connected on 11-of-12 attempts. I already mentioned the defensive job he did on senior Graham Whitelaw.

Endicott limited Gordon’s 3-point looks but the Scots found openings in closer to the basket as a result. 

Endicott used full-court pressure but Gordon reacted well to it especially in the second half.  During that half the Scots had six turnovers but two of the them came in the last 1 ½ minutes when reserves from both squads filled the court. 

The Gulls were not helped by the fact that freshman starter Lance Greene was unavailable because of a foot injury.

Andrew LeClair, one of Colby-Sawyer’s all-time greats, now an assistant coach, was in the house taking notes.

Gordon is back in the Final Four for the fifth straight season.  Twice in the past four seasons, it has been Colby-Sawyer ending Gordon’s season.  The Chargers were the last team to defeat the Scots this season (74-63 at New London on February 9th).  I know, what’s the good news?  Gordon is playing at home and coming off a wonderful win over rival Endicott.

The Endicott turnout must have been impacted by the fact that the Gull women were playing at the same time at Endicott.  Some of the Gull fans on hand probably wished in the second half, as the Endicott deficit mounted, that they had stayed home too.

 box score

Seniors Lead Way Past Salve Regina to 21st Win

Gordon seniors - Tim MacDonnell, Brady Bajema, Ben Gaskill, Jeff Derr, Aaron Trigg

(Wenham)  Plenty of where-did-the-time-go moments as each set of five parents paraded out to midcourt with their son on Saturday afternoon at the Bennett Center.

The five seniors then became the game starters for Gordon (21-4/12-1) and played big roles, as usual, in leading the Scots to an 89-62 win over Salve Regina (4-21/3-10).

Gordon had clinched the top spot in the Commonwealth Coast Conference several games ago.  The real down-to-the-wire action today was sorting out the five teams below Gordon, Wentworth, and Curry in the standings.  Five teams in that group ended up with six losses.  Today’s results have Gordon’s first round opponent at the Bennett Center at 7PM on Tuesday to be Endicott.  Other teams in our bracket are Nichols and Colby-Sawyer.  Hey, who said this would be easy. 

Let’s return to the game I’m supposed to be telling you about.  The atmosphere was relaxed.  It had the feel of an exhibition game with a lot more open shots than usual.  Gordon, in fact, put up a season-high 68 shots and made half of them.  Many of the Scot opportunities were of the high-percentage, in-close variety.

Jeff Derr - 17 points/10 rebounds

Jeff Derr (17 points/10 rebounds) used his first start of the season to register his first ever double/double. 

Greg Walker (12 points/11 rebounds) collected a similar double/double. 

Both big men benefited from size advantages but it was the Seahawks weak interior defense that really hurt the visitor’s chances.  SRU played Brady Bajema (7 points/3 assists) and Aaron Trigg (15 points/4 assists) man-to-man and tried to zone everyone else.  This arrangement left many inside opportunities for the unselfish Gordon offense and in this game, the Scots cashed in regularly.

For ten minutes, though, this looked like a game that the Scots could lose.  The Seahawks were hot from the outside (four 3’s including two by Jabreche Boyd) and SRU had a 16-14 lead.

The next 6 ½ minutes were a Gordon delight as six different players helped the Scots run off seventeen unanswered points and end up with a 31-16 advantage.  The damage was done from in close except for Tim MacDonnell’s trey.

The halftime lead was 38-26.

Jabreche Boyd - led all scorers with 23 points

The Seahawks were very competitive for the first ten minutes of the second half as well.  Jabreche Boyd (game-high 23 points) and Ryan Birrell (14 points) were the primary scorers for SRU as the Gordon lead was just 57-48 with 10:17 left. 

Gordon, however, put the game away over the next 3+ minutes on free throws and layups from six different players during a 13-3 segment to move the Scots to a more relaxed, 72-51, advantage.  There was a 10-point run further along and opportunities for each senior to be replaced to rousing ovations.

The crowd was enthusiastic and sported pictures of the seniors. 

Ben Gaskill added some offense (13 points) to another fine defensive effort.  This time his defensive work limited Dan Royce (16.5 points per game) to one point. 

Adam Herod came in late and put up his first points of the season.

Brady’s last basket gave him 1090 points and put him into 15th place on the all-time scorer’s list ahead of Justin Kaufman (1088).

Aaron’s fifteen points gives him 1530 and puts him within range of fourth all-time scorer (Steve Heinz) who has 1545 points. 

Gordon had its best game of the season as far as turnovers go, committing just eleven.  SRU did do some pressing. 

Gone now, is the relaxed atmosphere of the last few games.  Now teams get to feel either the “thrill of victory and or the agony of defeat.”  I would like to be “thrilled” at least through next Saturday!

The last four seasons the Scots have defeated Nichols, Salve Regina, Wentworth, and Roger Williams in first round games.  

box score

Scots Defeat Western New England and Clinch Tourney Home Court

Parents of Gordon seniors practice for next Saturday.

Aaron Trigg - 27 points/4 assists

Brady Bajema - 20 points/5 assists

(Springfield MA) Gordon 83 Western New England 79

That winning score took on added significance when we learned, after this Saturday afternoon game, that on the same day Wentworth had defeated 2nd place Curry.  That combination clinched the home court for the Scots in the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament that starts on February 23rd.

Yes, there are two games left – Wednesday (UNE) and Saturday (Salve Regina) – but the outcome of neither game changes Gordon’s spot atop the CCC standings. 

Gordon (19-4/10-1) squandered leads in both halves to free shooting WNEC (12-11/7-4) and had a tie game on their hands with 2:15 left (74-74).  Here’s what I saw in the end game:

The Scots returned to the lead (76-74) when Ben Gaskill found teammate Greg Walker for a layup with two minutes to go. 

I refer to WNEC as “free shooting.”  No need for a 35-second clock for them.  They came into the game averaging 79 points per game and seldom turned down the first good look that appeared. 

The Golden Bears ended up shooting over 50% for the game.  However, with the chance late, down two; to catch up, they came up empty on a jump shot, two free throws, and a take-the-lead three.  Gordon (Austin Bentson) had missed a three in the middle of all this.

Finally, another layup by Greg Walker on a feed from Brady Bajema (32 seconds left) boosted the Gordon advantage to four points and put WNEC out of one-possession position.

The teams traded solo free throws before Brad Thomka (13 points) hit both of his freebies with fourteen seconds remaining (79-77). 

The Scots avoided turnovers on the next two possessions and forced WNEC to foul the #1 free throw shooter in the CCC (Brady) and later the #6 free throw shooter in the CCC (Aaron Trigg).  The Gordon co-captains nailed all four attempts, and in the process never gave the home team a chance to be in a position to launch a last-second game winner.

Brady (20 points /5 assists), Aaron (27 points /5 rebounds), and Greg (16 points /5 rebounds) have entered every game this season getting special defensive attention, whether it involves personnel or positioning or both.  Nothing worked very well defensively for WNEC (last in CCC in points given up) although in the first half the Golden Bears frustrated attempts to get the ball inside to Greg causing turnovers and limiting him to two points.  Second half?  Greg found openings inside for fourteen points including two layups after WNEC had tied the score late.

Ben Gaskill - gets career highs in rebounds (14) and assists (4)

Ben set career highs in rebounds (14) and assists (4). 

Aaron’s points in this one put him over 1500 and into 5th place on the all-time scorer list ahead of Jon Marstaller.

Brady, who has already joined the 1000-point club, now has 1075 points and is closing fast on one of this game’s spectators (Justin Kaufman) who ended his career with 1088 points.

This was the last home game for WNEC and they celebrated their seniors from a number of sports.  Gordon goes through its own senior celebration next Saturday with the basketball teams.

The biggest cheer of the game came for freshman David Dempsey when he entered the game.  The noisemakers were the partisans from the Wallingford (CT) area.

The next opponent for the Scots is UNE next Wednesday night.  Remember last year, UNE came to Gordon undefeated and didn’t leave that way.  However, they also had clinched the home court by then.  Someone looking for an excuse for the loss could say that UNE wasn’t motivated.  You wonder if the Scots could fall into the same trap.

The eye-opening stats to consider heading into the game with UNE are from UNE’s game at WNEC on January 30th.  UNE defeated WNEC (87-79) and forced 34 turnovers getting 20 steals!  The Scots are going to get a serious dose of ball-hawking defense on Wednesday night for sure.  One optimistic stat from Gordon’s game with WNEC was that they had just four turnovers in the second half and zero over the last eight minutes.

The Scots built up an 18-8 lead in the first seven minutes of the first half but WNEC rode hot-shooting senior Brendan Murphy (14 points in the half) back to a 34-32 halftime advantage.

The Bears started slowly in the second half while the Scots were sizzling.  Ten minutes in the Scots led 61-48 and looked to be in command.  Wrong.  Gordon missed shots and had two turnovers during the next three minutes while WNEC ran ten straight to close to 61-58.  It took Greg’s patented jump hook to stop the bleeding temporarily.  Four + minutes later a Rick Johnson free throw tied the game with 2:15 left.  Thereafter, as described above, poise and points earned yet another Gordon victory.

box score

Scots Return to Winning Ways Versus Nonleague Bates

Aaron Trigg (25 points) and Brady Bajema (24 points-8 assists) lead Scots past Bates

(Lewiston ME)  Gordon 78 Bates 64

Trust me, that final score is very misleading.  It took two streaks, one (thirteen points) to get the lead, and another (ten points) to put the game out of reach on Thursday night at Lewiston.

Gordon (18-4/9-1) trailed 58-55 with 7 ½ minutes to go.  Having played Tuesday night (loss at Colby-Sawyer), you weren’t confident about their chances on the road in the end game versus a quality Bates (12-11) team on its own court.

However, the Scots played about as well as I’ve seen them play, during the next three minutes, collecting thirteen points over the next six possessions and shutting out the Bobcats.

Austin Bentson had a couple of big plays.  On one end, he somehow put a shot in after stumbling into the lane, and then followed that with a steal down the other end that sent Aaron Trigg off for a fastbreak layin. 

When the wonderful three minutes ended, Gordon had an unlikely 68-58 lead with 4 ½ to go.  Bates came out of a timeout and scored points on three straight possessions while the Scots turned the ball over twice in succession.  So now, we’ve got a 68-64 game with 2:50 left.  Plenty of time for good or bad things to happen.

Only the ultimate Gordon optimist would have predicted, however, what actually happened the rest of the way – Bates never scored again and the Scots collected the last ten points of the game.  Pretty amazing on both counts.

Ben Gaskill - An assist, rebound, layup, and free throw in closing minutes

Ben Gaskill, minus the beard, came up big at the end.  He started with an assist on a Brady Bajema three.  The next time Gordon had the ball they were clearly (with a seven point lead) into a hold-onto-the-ball mode.  You’re thinking that Aaron or Brady will get the shot as the 35-second clock runs out.  However, Ben ends up with the ball with everyone yelling for him to shoot.  He takes an off-balanced jump shot as the shot-clock buzzer sounds.  The defense seemed to freeze, hearing the buzzer, just for an instant.  Ben follows his shot, gets his own rebound, and puts in the layup and is fouled.  He makes the free throw and with 1:16 left, the ten-point lead (74-64) was a mountain Bates wasn’t going to climb in such a short time.

The stat sheet revealed plenty of goodies.  Brady reached a season-high in assists with eight.  The free throw shooting (13-for-14) was also a season high.  Greg Walker’s three blocks were a season high.

Aaron’s 25 points put him into a tie with Jon Marstaller (parents and sister were on hand at Bates) for 5th place on the all-time scoring list. 

Aaron and Brady were deadly shooting from anywhere.  How about a combined 11-for-11 from the foul line!

Brian Ellis (24 points) had the Bates offense run through him for much of the evening.  He was 10-for-15 and seemed like a bad matchup for the Scots no matter what sized Gordon player attempted to guard the 6’5” junior.

Ahead for Gordon is a trip to Springfield on Saturday to face Western New England (12-10/7-3).  As nice as it was to beat Bates, the matchup was nonleague.  The results of the last three games of the season (WNEC/UNE/Salve Regina) affect seeding in the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament.  I’d like to see three games played during tourney week at the Bennett Center.

When I looked earlier at the trio of road games, two of which we just played, I imagined weather issues being a factor.  Dry roads to New Hampshire, and now Maine, in February!  God is good!

The heating system in the Alumni Gym did not disappoint.  You just have to be prepared for it.  Every Bates student I saw in attendance was wearing a short-sleeved shirt.  The gym is 84 years old and has always given off a warm welcome, I’m told.

Box Score

Game #27 – Gordon Loses to Colby-Sawyer (again) and Exits CCC Tournament

(New London NH)  After getting routed (90-64) at Gordon on February 10th you hoped that a second meeting with Colby-Sawyer might go better.  It didn’t.

 The Scots lost 72-54 exiting from the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament in the semifinals for the fourth straight season as a result.  Gordon was the lone returnee from last season’s Final Four.

Meanwhile, Colby-Sawyer moves on to the finals at UNE on Saturday night.  The UNE pressure gave the Chargers trouble in a regular season loss. 

The Gordon lax team attired at Colby-Sawyer with TMac goggles and Brady arm pads - photo courtesy goggle wearer's mother

The Gordon/CS game was played Thursday night in New Hampshire before a crowd that included a busload of Gordon students.  The kids came and made plenty of supportive noise throughout but the team just didn’t respond.

Aaron sandwiched by Jon Chaloux (#12) and Matt Lemieux (#3) - photo courtesy Ron Harden

Jon Chaloux (23 points /7 rebounds) and Matt Lemieux (18 points /7 assists) led the (20-6) Chargers.  Jon, the 6-6 junior, caused similar damage (26 points) in the first meeting at the Bennett Center.  Someone needs to figure out how to guard him before next year’s game. 

The Scots were cold early and it was four minutes in before Ben Gaskill took his only shot of the game and scored after receiving a nice pass from Brady Bajema.  Meanwhile, the Chargers already had six points thanks to Jon Chaloux. He took one of Matt Lemieux’s seven assists and dunked and also hit a couple of jump shots.  This was a game in which we had trouble scoring and they didn’t, most of the time.

Before the half was over the Chargers had put together a run of seven straight, and three runs of six and led 33-17 at halftime.  An optimist at halftime could certainly note that we weren’t down 48-26 as we were at halftime in the 90-64 loss and that this time around Aaron Trigg hadn’t scored yet.

Gordon got off to a much better start in the second half.  After a couple of Ben Gaskill free throws, the Scots made their next five shots and cut the deficit to 39-30 after 3 ½ minutes played.  Plenty of time left.

But Matt Lemieux (5-8 senior) put a damper on the optimism with his own personal run of seven points and in a little over a minute the Chargers were up by sixteen (46-30). 

CS, wisely kept the ball in Matt’s hands most of the second half and spread the floor to give him plenty of room to show his ball-handling skills. 

CS never let go of that double-figures lead the rest of the way, using the clock and ending most of their lengthy possessions with points. 

In the twenty wins Gordon ended up with this season, we’ve seen them do the same thing with a lead.  It sure is a helpless feeling to see your team on the wrong side of that strategy especially when your team’s defensive arsenal doesn’t include trapping or pressing.

Brady Bajema - Paced the Scots with 24 points including 17 in the second half.

Even in the loss, we did see quite a second half, shooting show from Brady.  He tossed in seventeen second half points and ended up with 24 points for the game. 

Brady became the go-to guy in that second half as Aaron never got untracked and for the first time in 53 games didn’t make at least one three.  The defense was good but not that good.  This was truly one of those rare outings when the talented junior from Kansas had his shooting touch nearly abandon him entirely.  But again, let me repeat, no one player ever loses a team game!

Closer to the basket things didn’t go that well either.  Greg (6 points) had trouble getting the ball, and when he did get it was faced with extra defenders.  Ben (4 points) took only ONE shot the entire game (He had 14 points on Tuesday night) and because of foul trouble watched 18 minutes of the game from the bench.

Enough of that negative stuff.  Gordon ends with twenty wins and a lone graduate (David Flight) whom we wish well.  Trust me, the 2009-10 team will be favored in the preseason CCC poll.  The target will be on their backs with so much experience returning.  We are destined for another season of very good basketball I suspect.  I would like to believe that next year’s team is capable of winning the conference and securing homecourt throughout the playoffs in 2010.  Can they (finally) win the tournament?  Why not?

A closing thanks to the friends we’ve renewed with this season and to those added along the way.  The tremendous sacrifices that parents of players make just to attend games always amazes me.  Any player reading this article needs to remind their parents repeatedly that they are appreciative of their support.

I am thankful for the opportunity that God has given me to cover seven seasons of Gordon games.  My wife, Julie, has been a wonderful source of encouragement and I thank her for that.

Lord willing, I expect to follow the team during the 2009-10 season. 

Thanks for being part of the readership.

Box Score

Game #26 – Aaron’s Last-Second Shot Advances Gordon Past Roger Williams in CCC Tournament

(Wenham) Remember the long prayer Aaron let fly up from the corner at Endicott to win that game in December? 

Aaron Trigg - Scored game-high 17 points including game winner in the last second vs Roger Williams.

He was at it again tonight at the lively Bennett Center against Roger Williams with a shorter prayer but, like the Endicott shot, it was a game-winner. 

This time the stakes were higher as the 50-48 victory that resulted advanced the Scots to the semifinals of the CCC tournament at Colby-Sawyer (defeated Wentworth 83-71) on Thursday night at 7PM. 

You could never relax no matter which side you were rooting for in this game.  No lead provided comfort because the defense was so intense that scoring droughts were out there just waiting to happen.

Fortunately, for Gordon it was the visitors who ran into a game-deciding, 2 ½ minute scoring drought at the end of this one that opened the door for a GC rally. 

Corey Fava’s two free throws had given RW a 48-44 advantage with those 2 ½ minutes to go. 

Greg Walker (12 points/6 rebounds) followed with a jumper.  Pat Flanagan had a shot rim out down the other end.

Aaron missed a layup in traffic but Ben Gaskill (14 points/7 rebounds) collected one of those rebounds and tied the score at 48-48 with 1:19 left.

Aaron fouled Taylor Petruccelli but the 6-4 sophomore came up empty on the front end of a one-and-one.  You’d like to think that the nearby Pit might have had something to do with it.  But Hawk Ryan McGinn turned up with the rebound with inside a minute left.

The Hawks went into a very deliberate style as they passed and dribbled on the perimeter letting the clock wind down.  Finally, Corey Fava, with JT Himmelstein covering, went up with a jumper that rimmed out.  JT got the rebound with 31 seconds left.

Now it was Gordon’s turn to use the clock.  The ball was in Aaron’s hands most of the time with Taylor Petruccelli tight on him.  With eight seconds left, Aaron gave up the ball to Brady who headed for the basket only to see multiple defenders ahead.  He passed back to Greg who quickly found Aaron on the right baseline.  Aaron ended up spinning right for a fall away in and over traffic.  Swish with .2 seconds left.

After a timeout, and an itchy trigger finger on the score clock, Ryan McGinn tried a fullcourt pass over 6-9 Jon Himottu that Aaron deflected away.  Whew!

The win gives Gordon a 20-6 overall record.  It ends a four-game win streak the Hawks had going against the Scots. Maybe it even avenges RW’s ouster of Gordon in the CCC tournament semifinals last season.

Whatever, the Scots move on to face Colby-Sawyer.  A mere two weeks ago, the visiting Chargers abused Gordon from beginning to end in a 90-64 blowout.  Since then the Scots have won five straight.  This may be the time they win their first CCC tournament semifinal game.

This was the day in which the top 15 players in the CCC were announced as well as the MVP.  I suggested last article that Aaron was the MVP but no, they wouldn’t listen.

One thing I didn’t understand in this game was the limited playing time of the Hawk’s third-team, all-league freshman Pat Flanagan.  He was averaging nearly 12 PPG but had time for only one point this time. The 6-9 inside threat played only 13 minutes and in my opinion that kept our 6-9 Ben Gaskill out of the foul trouble he got into in the January loss to RW. 

Ben Gaskill (6-9 junior) Plays above the rim on his way to 14 points vs Roger Williams - photo courtesy Ron Harden

Ben, maybe motivated by his omission from the all-league team, had his second best point game of the season and the rebound he converted into points in the last two minutes was huge. 

Ben and Aaron had 22 of Gordon’s 28 second half points. 

Box Score