Gordon shoots by ENC 97-85

(All of the pictures below will enlarge when you click on them.)

Garrett Sattazahn (18 points) in the open court

Justin Yu (12 points)

(Wenham MA) A lot to like in this one.

Anytime you can defeat a former rival (Eastern Nazarene) it’s a good win.

Tonight, ENC (5-6) walked away with a, 97-85, non-league loss on the Kanas Court.

For those who may be recent to Gordon athletics, before Endicott was our main rival, that distinction belonged to Eastern Nazarene. 

The Commonwealth Coast Conference brought our neighbor Endicott into our athletic lives and lessened the GC/ENC rivalry.  And now the former Crusaders are no longer in the CCC.

Drew Thibeault faces the ENC defense

“We knew that ENC was a good team,” said Gordon high scorer Garrett Sattazahn afterwards.  “They had a win over Middlebury.”

The Scots (3-2) were coming off a tough, 85-83, loss on Tuesday night at Western New England.

“After the way we played the last game,” said Gordon coach Tod Murphy, “I’m very happy with this one.”

The Scots had a steady flow of offense that the visitors from Quincy couldn’t match.

Bryce Smith (14 points)

After a Bryce Smith three gave Gordon a 7-6 lead, the Scots never trailed thereafter.

The home team pushed their advantage to eighteen (35-17) in the first half and led by twelve (45-33) at halftime.

One of Coach Murphy’s post-game quotes was, “We want to make it interesting, don’t we.”

That was a reference to the Scots letting the Lions make things a lot tighter in the second half.

Donte Pearson defends Parker Omslaer

Led by senior Corey McGhee (19 points/12 rebounds/5 assists), ENC clawed its way back.  With ten minutes remaining in the game, the Lions were within four points (65-61).  The outcome was no longer as certain as it had appeared to be earlier in the game.

But on this night, the Scots quickly returned to their scoring ways and brought along some tight defense over the next three minutes.  The Scots put up twelve points while the Lions were held to one point.  This crucial segment gave Gordon a more comfortable, 77-62, lead and they were on their way to their third win of the season.

“We hit the shots when we needed to, and we got the defensive stops when we needed them,” said Coach Murphy.

Justin Yu (12 points) came off the bench to have his best game of the season.  The GC junior was three-for-three from long range.

Drew Thibeault (8 points) collected his first points of the season.  He had a three during the Scots’ run to rebuild their lead in the second half.

Drew Thibeault (33) launches a key three in the second half

Zach Quanico (3)

“We got a lot of help from a lot of people,” added Coach Murphy.

Garrett Sattazahn (18), Parker Omslaer (15), Bryce Smith (14) and Michael Makiej (12) joined Justin in registering double figures for Gordon.

“It was a good team win,” said Garrett.  “We put the ball in the hoop and Parker did a great job down low.”

Both teams were quick to break and quick to shoot. 

Parker Omslaer and Levi Grady-White

That style of play isn’t exactly to Coach Murphy’s liking: “I always get nervous when we focus on trying to beat teams with three’s.  We’ve got a good shooting team, but we also have a 6-11 big man in the middle who I didn’t think they could stop.  I’m an old-school guy.  I like to go to our big guys.”

“We did a better job tonight boxing out in our zone defense,” explained Garrett.  In the Western New England loss, the Scots gave up an astonishing twenty-two offensive rebounds.  Tonight, that number was lowered to fourteen.

Two key stats in this game involved turnovers and free throws.  The Scots had seventeen, but ENC had eighteen.  The Lions’ full-court pressure caused most of the GC miscues.  The Lions’ turnovers were in the half court.  That fact would be a credit to how active the Gordon zone was tonight.

Garrett Sattazahn looks to pass

Gordon (22-for-26) was very good at the free throw line.  ENC missed ten freebies.

“We still have a lot of work to do in handling pressure,” said Garrett.  “I keep turning the ball over.  I don’t know what’s going on.”

Ka’Shaun Swan (16), Bernie McGinness (13), and Levi Grady-White (11) were the other Lions in double figures.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Garrett Sattazahn layup

The Scots were good at the line

Loose ball

David Massillon

Caleb Scott layup

Jordan Bretton and Zach Quanico

Michael Makiej

Zach Quanico on the floor

Nick Manso

Garrisson Duvivier leads Gordon by ENC 83-73 in rematch

Garrisson Duvivier – big game for the Scots

(Newtown CT) That’s ten straight.

Who knows what the rest of the season will bring but so far, very good.

The Scots moved to 11-1 with an 83-73 win over Eastern Nazarene in a New Year’s Eve afternoon non-league matchup at the Bennett Center.

Based on the Efficiency Stat (subtract the negatives from the positives), Garrisson Duvivier put together his best game of the season.

The talented senior was able to tone down the turnovers (only one) and nicely fill the rest of the stat sheet: 21 points, 9 rebounds, 6 steals, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Eric Demers (21 points)

The Lions (3-7) nearly got the Scots nineteen days ago in Quincy.  Only a seventeen-point streak in the closing six minutes gave GC a 77-75 W that time.

In that tight one, ENC picked Gordon’s zone apart and for much of the game passed/dribbled into open looks and made shots.  Things got so bad for the Scots that they switched to a man-to-man in the second half.

This afternoon, the Lions came out making shots but most of them were by junior Garrett Crandell (26 points/6-for-8 on 3’s).

The visitors sat on a 26-17 spread with 8 ½ minutes left in the first half.  And that was about where they sat for the next 7 ½ minutes!

ENC shot 0-for-11 and had four turnovers during the lose the lead/fall behind segment.  The Scots featured all inside scoring, including a dunk by Garrisson, and came out with a 34-27 advantage at the other end of the 7 ½ minutes.

Gordon would never trail again.

The Lions were able to get within four points in the second half, but the Scots had plenty of offense (49 points) to offset any ENC upset plans.

Garrisson tallied thirteen in the 2^nd half while teammate Eric Demers (21 points)g put up fifteen.

The Gordon zone, by the way, survived both halves.  At times it thrived, causing twenty turnovers.  A lot of the successful passes/dribbles in the first game led to shotless possessions for the former Commonwealth Coast Conference member this time.

Avelino Damoura came off the bench to contribute for the Scots.  The sophomore made two 3’s in short minutes.

Noah Szilagyi and Jake Haar struggled from long range (2-for-10) but keyed the improved GC defense.

Garrisson’s 21-points moved him up the all-time scorer’s list (1601 points) into 4^th place ahead of Aaron Trigg.  The status of #3 Woody Anderson (1622) and #2 Doug Lindland (1645) would appear to be in jeopardy.

AJ Terry was not in uniform.

Nothing but CCC opponents the rest of the way. UNE on Thursday and Nichols on Saturday.  Both teams are dangerous.

UNE shoots the first open shot, presses full-court, and plays everyone.  Points will be flowing.  Can the GC offense keep pace?

Nichols?  Best team in the CCC.  Won the league last year.  Took their first loss recently against Salisbury which is 11-1.  Can the GC offense get production from all five starters and how will the zone hold up against a team with so many shooters?  We’ll have the answers to those question in a week.

The seating at the Bennett Center was consolidated and it looked like a good-sized crowd ended 2018 on campus.

The Gordon link worked perfectly.

It was interesting to look at the ENC video recap of the last game with Gordon.  The recap ended abruptly with six minutes left just as one of the Lions drained a three to give ENC a big lead and force a Gordon timeout.  A Gordon recap might have only included the six minutes AFTER the ENC video recap ended.  To each his own!

Box from the game

 

Scots scored seventeen straight in final six minutes to catch ENC 77-75

Eric Demers (21 points) dropped three 3’s in the closing minutes comeback

(Amesbury MA) It has been a season where points can come in bunches.

That happened again tonight in Quincy as Gordon (9-1) put shutout defense together with a run of seventeen straight points and pulled out a, 77-75, struggle against Eastern Nazarene on Wednesday night.

That run-of-points thing appeared to have been left somewhere in Wenham for seventy-four of this game’s eighty minutes.  The only runs were by the Lions (3-6) as they sat with, what seemed like, a comfortable, double-digit lead most of the time.

However, with six minutes left The Run kicked in and ENC became the most recent part of the Scots eight-game win streak.

The Lions may have entered the game with a 3-5 record but against Gordon’s zone defense in the first half they had answers.  The team from Quincy shot 70%, made nine three’s, had fifteen assists, and led by eight (47-39) at the half.

Senior Garrisson Duvivier had another double-double

What to do?

Somewhere on the trip to the locker room at the half the GC coaching staff decided that something had to give.

Gordon coach Tod Murphy explained to me earlier in the season why the zone defense was being used, “I hate the zone but if it will help us win, I’ll use it.”

Against ENC it was quite clear that the zone was not working.  Whether it was a problem with Gordon’s execution or ENC’s ability to work against it, is not for me to say.  Maybe it was a little of both.

My internet went out at halftime and I was on the phone with Comcast getting that resolved.  My connection was returned six minutes into the second half.  First thing I noticed was that Gordon was now playing a man-to-man defense.  My suspicion was that the zone had been left in the locker room at halftime for repairs!

Anyhow, the Lions still had separation and kept it against the new defense.

Noah Szilagyi – part of a great defensive effort in the final minutes

Maybe playing at ENC was the problem.  Last year in January the Scots buried ENC, 81-59, at the Bennett Center.  A month later GC was at ENC and lost, 93-88.

I began to prepare the “jinxy location” explanation for the likely loss as the minutes went by.

With 6:05 it was ENC 72, Gordon 59.  The Scots would need to put defense and offense together in a near-perfect package to pull this one out.  And that was exactly what they did!

The only shot the Lions made was a Josh Rice three with less than a second left and the outcome decided.

Clean looks vanished.  Every shot was heavily contested.  Dribbling and passing became risky.

Eastern Nazarene missed all six shots they took and had three turnovers in those fatal six minutes.  The scoring window was no longer open.

David Massillon – continues to impress on both ends of the court

My fondest memory of the comeback minutes is that all five players contributed.  All the parts needed to be working to pull this one out.

Jake Haar – steal, assist.

Noah Szilagyi – steal, assist, rebound.

Garrisson Duvivier – 2 layups, 1 free throw, 1 offensive rebound, 1 defensive rebound.

David Massillon – 2 offensive rebounds, 2 defensive rebounds, 2 assists, 2 free throws, 1 layup.

Eric Demers – 3 three’s.

Garrisson finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds.  Most of that was in the second half since he had quick fouls in the first half.

Eric ended with 21 points.

Eric (1251 career points) moved past Mike Herr into 12^th place on the Gordon scoring list.

Jake Haar – Had a steal and an assist in the comeback

Garrisson (1560 career points) passed Steve Heintz to reach 5^th place.

The Scots will visit Framingham State on Friday night (7PM).

The team has vacation time beyond that game and then back to Wenham for a New Year’s Eve afternoon revisit with Eastern Nazarene.  I will most likely be absent from the Bennett Center and sitting in front of my computer in Connecticut wondering what type of defense will be used.

Garrett Crandall led ENC with twenty-one points.

The Lions had an astounding twenty-five assists in this game including fifteen in the first half.  I couldn’t find a number like that 25 in any of the ten years of stats that I have collected.  Another half of tonight’s zone might have enabled ENC to set an NCAA record?

Sophomore Avelino Damoura made his debut tonight.  In a 5-minute stint he hit a three and had two assists.

Box from the game.

Avelino Damoura returned to action for the first time this season

 

 

 

 

Gordon gets caught in a trap game losing 93-88 to ENC

Eastern Nazarene sealed the win with eight consecutive free throws in the closing minute. Brenndan Rogers is at the line.

Jacob Wladroop and Jaren Yang try to get control

(Quincy MA) What is a trap game?

A trap game is one in which there is some certainty that one team will win.  Could be the comparative won/loss records for the season.  Might be the result of a previous meeting between the two teams during the season.

Gordon entered this afternoon’s game in second place in the Commonwealth Coast Conference.  ENC resided in ninth and was already eliminated from the post-season tournament.

Gordon entered this afternoon’s game with the memory of an easy, 81-59, win over the Lions on January 6^th.

And sure enough, the team that wasn’t supposed to win did on Saturday afternoon in Quincy.

“No question this was our biggest win of the year,” said ENC coach Scott Polsgrove afterwards.  “It’s something we can build on.”

Garrisson Duvivier (15 points) looks for an opening

Gordon coach Tod Murphy admired the way the Lions played: “They wanted it more than we did.  They played harder than we did.”

This was a game where in both halves ENC had double digit deficits.  At Gordon in early January, the first double-digit deficit sent the Lions quickly downhill into a large loss.  Not this time.

The Scots had a seventeen-point lead (74-57) and it wouldn’t have taken much for Gordon to push the lead to twenty and then coast in as expected.  But this time around ENC just wouldn’t pack it in.

One of the reasons was senior TJ Vazquez. Honored before the game on Senior Day, TJ had the game of his ENC career.  “TJ may have scored more points today (13) than he has in his entire career,” explained Coach Polsgrove.  “He made a memory today that we won’t forget for a while.”

Let me help you remember, with a picture, which one was TJ.  He was the one making the verrrry long 3-point shot just before the first-half ended. (The picture is at the top of the page.)

Eric Demers (25 points) gets an unguarded three

The Lions (8-15) melted the Gordon lead to nothing but it was still anyone’s game (85-85) with 2:10 left.  I thought at the time that our normally effective inside/outside game would kick in.  I also thought that the Big Moment might get the home team to miss a few late-game shots.  It didn’t work out that way.

In today’s end game (2:10), the team from Wenham made one-of-five shots and had two turnovers.

Meanwhile, ENC started with a missed three and two turnovers (Opening the door for Gordon?) before knocking down eight straight free throws to secure the victory.

David Lopez (23) flips up a shot

The loss drops the Scots (11-5 in the CCC) into a 3-way tie for second place with Endicott and Roger Williams.  Roger Williams will be in the Bennett Center on Tuesday’s last regular home game. Has the makings of huge game with second place on the line.

Not so to GC Coach Tod Murphy: “I am not worried about where we finish.  We have to win three tournament games (starting February 20^th) to win the title.  And they’re going to be three very good teams we have to beat.”

“We took a step backward this afternoon,” said Coach Murphy, “but we’ve got a very good team.  We didn’t show up this afternoon, but we’ll be okay when it comes to playoff time.”

“This was a huge game for us for a lot of reasons,” explained Lions coach Scott Polsgrove. “We have struggled at times and lost a lot of close games.  We are also incredibly young.”

It certainly didn’t help the Gordon chances late in this one for Eric Demers to miss two 3’s as well as two free throws.  And Garrisson fouled out with forty-seven seconds left.  Having the team’s top scorer off and the second leading scorer on the bench, just won’t lead to a positive result.

In his breakout season, Eric has had double figures in every game but one.  Two missed free throws were a shock because the 6-2 sophomore had been 38-for-39 shooting free throws the last seven games.

Jacob Waldroop gets a layup

I think that it is important for Gordon (15-8) to win the two games (Roger Williams, Salve Regina) next week to end the regular season on a roll.  We’ll get second place in the CCC and, assuming we win, get two home games in the tournament.  I like our chances at home against any of the six teams we might face.

Coach Murphy dusted off a piece of history to fuel his optimism about the tournament: “I know that the last time we won the championship we played ENC in the last game of the regular season on our Senior Night and lost.”  Sounds as if losing to ENC today, on their Senior Day, may not have been as bad as it seemed!

Coach Polsgrove: “We have all the respect in the world for Gordon.  They’re probably our main rival.  To be able to come back against them is special.”

Richie Armand was in the house.

Efficiency Chart

Garrisson Duvivier 29 (15 points, career-high 7 assists)

Eric Demers 22 (25 points,4 assists,3 steals)

Josh Rice 20 (20 points)

Noah Cheney 18 (18 points,3 assists,6 free throws in last minute)

Jacob Waldroop 16 (12 points,7 assists)

TJ Vaszuez 15 (13 points)

Eastern Nazarene 106

Gordon 104

Box from the game

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

ENC works the weave

Garrisson Duvivier leans in

Battle for a rebound

Josh Rice

Noah Szilagyi shoots a three over Josh Rice

Eric Demers puts up a three

Noah Szilagyi (9 points) leads a break

pregame jammer

 

 

 

 

 

Solid team effort pushes Gordon past ENC 81-55

Eric Demers (20 points) shoots over Noah Cheney

Garrisson Duvivier (15 points) active around the rim

(Wenham MA) The Eastern Nazarene offense was as cold as the weather has been around here lately and their defense wasn’t a whole lot better.

Gordon easily defeated ENC, 81-59, on Saturday afternoon getting the 2018 part of their schedule off to a good start.

“It was a good team win,” said GC coach Tod Murphy afterwards.  Everyone played, and the shooting opportunities were abundant.

Eric Demers (20) and Garrisson Duvivier (15) paced the Scots in limited minutes.

Gordon (6-5) struggled early and trailed, 12-5, after 3 ½ minutes.  “We started poorly but finally got it together defensively,” recalled Coach Murphy.  “I keep telling our guys that our defense ignites our offense.  I definitely think that’s what happened today.”

Parker Omslaer jams

The Lions (4-7) fell into a six-minute drought while GC erased the seven-point deficit by running up sixteen unanswered points.  The Scots had four assisted layups to go with free throws by Eric Demers and three’s by Eric and Josh Crutchfield.  By the time the team from Quincy (MA) could score again they were behind, 21-12.

Gordon soon had a double-digit lead and never looked back.

The Lions were within ten (51-41) seven minutes into the second half but the Scots second unit came on and pushed the lead to twenty.  ENC had no response on this afternoon.

“Our second team did a great job,” added Coach Murphy.  “Josh (Ribeiro) and Parker (Omslaer) played huge today.  Crutch (Josh Crutchfield) hit a couple of big shots.  We need to have that second unit playing well if we’re going to be a championship team.  We can’t expect our starters to be great every single night.”

Jake Hart heavily guarded by Lions

Senior Jake Hart was a spark off the bench.  He had six points in twenty-two minutes of action.  Easily his longest time on-court this season.  “I can always count on Jake,” said Coach Murphy.  “Mr. Reliable.  I can put him in any spot on the court and he will do a great job.”

Sophomore Josh Rice led the way for ENC with thirteen points.

Some of the most entertaining games in my years of watching Gordon basketball have been against Eastern Nazarene.  The Lions always had players who could dazzle and they made ENC tough to beat.  Not seeing that on this year’s edition.

ENC, to be fair, have so far given their top five minutes to a freshman and four sophomores.

Jake Haar about to set up teammate Parker Omslaer

The Lions had nine shots blocked when they took shots from in close with Garrisson Duvivier and Parker Omslaer nearby.  Each had three rejections.

The most worrisome stat on the ENC stat sheet was personal fouls.  The Lions committed only SEVEN fouls during the entire game!  I have stats that go back over ten years and nothing comes close to that seven.

Why is that stat a problem?  It shows a lack of serious defense.  Gordon had plenty of room to operate just about anywhere.

Josh Rice had thirteen points for ENC

“ENC is not a bad team and I thought that we handled them pretty well.” said Coach Murphy.

There will be a trip to Quincy on February 10^th and the Lions will have gained experience and should be expected to perform better in front of their active home student section.

Efficiency Chart

Eric Demers 23 (20 points)

Garrisson Duvivier (15 pts,8 rebounds)

Josh Rice 12 (13 pts)

Jaren Yang 11 (6 assists)

Jake Haar 11 (9 pts,3 assists)

Gordon 113

ENC 51

Box from the game

(All pictures above and below will enlarge when you click on them.)

Jaren Yang makes a fancy layup

Matt Valles finishes

Noah Cheney

Josh Ribeiro tries to get past Andrew Mitchell

Josh Crutchfield (10) looks to pass

Josh Crutchfield in close

Jake Hart (#15)

Eric Demers fakes out a defender

Garrisson Duvivier gets a layup

young fan

 

Gordon sweeps Eastern Nazarene 70-62

Christian Lynch, shown here battling with Jake Hart in the first meeting, had an excellent game for ENC

(Amesbury MA) It wasn’t pretty but the Scots got it done in Quincy defeating Eastern Nazarene, 70-62, on Wednesday night.

The win enabled Gordon (11-7) to sweep the series with the Lions.

Certainly a frustrating loss for the Lions.  They fell behind by double figures early but recovered to get a lead early in the second half.  Then the visitors from Wenham (MA) pulled away again to a double-digit lead (58-47) and the closest ENC (9-9) could get the rest of the way was five points.

The Scots had enough defense in the first half to still be ahead (28-27) despite a serious cooldown.  That chilly session lasted seven minutes.  Eleven straight shots were missed and four turnovers committed.  A 21-10 advantage shrunk to 21-20.  The Scots were fortunate that ENC had their own shooting woes.

In the second half, Gordon broke loose from a tie (36-36) on two consecutive three’s by Jake Haar.  They would not be caught the rest of the way.

Layups by Garrisson Duvivier, and Noah Szilagyi and a runner in the lane by Luke Meyer raised the GC spread to eleven (58-47) with six minutes left.

ENC cut the lead to five (67-62) with thirty seconds remaining but it was too late to finish the comeback.

Very surprised that the Lions did not do any pressing.  Maybe they didn’t see the Western New England game and the Scots’ twenty-seven turnovers?  Whatever. The Lions were content to concentrate on shutting down Gordon in close and for good reason; Garrisson Duvivier had thirty points around the basket in GC’s first-game OT win.

Efficiency

Christian Lynch 25 (17 points, 5 assists)

Corey Doran 14 (16 points)

Sam Johnson

Sam Johnson 14 (11 points)

Garrisson Duviver 14 (11 points)

Jake Hart 12 (9 points)

David Eddings 12 (10 points, 3 assists)

Gordon 85

ENC 76

Noah Szilagyi (12 points) had a career-high in shots (13) and was 3-for-5 from long range.

The Gordon win plus a Roger Williams loss (to Nichols) puts the Scots in a three-way tie for second with those two teams.  With the win, Gordon now has a two-game separation over the closest of the teams behind them in the standings.  The top four teams host a first-round playoff game.

The Scots get Nichols at noon on Saturday in Dudley.  There will be full-court pressure.  There will be Marco.  He had thirty tonight against Roger Williams.  A win over the Bison would ease the pain of the last-second defeat earlier in the season.

Call it the Gordon version of the Sports Illustrated curse.  In Coach Tod Murphy’s entry in Coaches Corner that came out today, he mentioned that the Scots could score points but the worries were on the defensive end.  Sure enough, same day the Scots struggle to score points.

I opted for the blurred version of the ENC game feed.

Box from the game.

Two day-after thoughts on this game:

• Jake Hart. His minutes are down but his contributions aren’t.  In the fast-start, first 2 ½ minutes of the ENC game, alert Garrisson Duvivier connected with cutting Jake three different times for layups.  Later the junior nailed a three, assisted by Jaren Yang.  No forced offense.  Cutting to the basket to get open.  A valuable player.
• Sam Johnson. You see him with nine rebounds versus ENC and think he had a “bad” game.  Foolish thought.  Why?  Sam’s 9-rebound game is higher than what everyone else in the Commonwealth Coast Conference averages per game except Nick Bates!  In a game in which everyone on the floor has a chance to get a rebound, Sam has the knack and passion to get a high number of them every game.  Playing like a first-team, all-leaguer in my mind.

 

 

 

 

 

Gordon gets overtime win (85-82) over ENC in conference opener

Jake Hart (#15) latches onto the final rebound between Christian Lynch (12) and Patrick Michel (5)

Garrisson Duvivier finished with thirty points.

(Wenham MA) It wasn’t until Jake Hart cradled the final rebound that this game was over.

Gordon and Eastern Nazarene battled into overtime before the home Scots came away 85-82 winners.

Back and forth it went with small leads and clutch baskets from both teams on Wednesday night at the Bennett Center.

This contest opened the Commonwealth Coast Conference part of both team’s schedules.

Last season’s highlight game for GC, in my opinion, was an 87-85 overtime win over ENC in January at Gordon.

Tonight’s game was just as exciting.  The key to the win was Gordon’s dominance on the boards.  The Scots ended up with fourteen more shots than the visitors.

Sam Johnson gets one of his 23 rebounds

Sam Johnson had a career-high fifteen offensive rebounds for GC.

Garrisson Duvivier poured in thirty points with plenty of them coming from in-traffic layups.

The Scots never trailed in overtime.  Jaren Yang gave GC the lead right away with an old-fashioned 3-point play.  Later the junior from California drained two pressure free throws with ten seconds left to get the GC lead to 3 points.  The Lions did get a good look (Christian Lynch) at a tying three but the shot missed and Jake Hart gathered the rebound to end the game.

Earlier in regulation ENC freshman Josh Rice drilled a corner three in the closing seconds to send this game into overtime.

The Lions had six players in double figures and eighteen assisted baskets.

Jake Haar (#20) gets room for a three

Gordon (3-2) got down by six (59-53) in regulation with 6:50 left but unanswered layups by Jaren, Garrison, and a three by Jake Haar sent GC back in front.

Gordon missed a ton of shots in close but their strength on the boards earned them numerous second chances.

It was a surprise to me that ENC never pressed.  I was so used to them in previous years generating easy baskets off Gordon turnovers.

Jaren may have missed all five 3-point attempts but he was a clutch five-for-five from the foul line with the outcome hanging in the balance.

The Lions (3-3 overall) were picked to finish 8^th in the CCC by the coaches.  I can tell you now, that the team from Quincy can defend and make shots, and should end up much higher in the CCC than was expected.

Ball in the air

Efficiency

Sam Johnson 26 (11 points/23 rebounds)

Garrisson Duvivier 24 (30 points/14 rebounds)

Corey Doran 21 (18 points)

Jake Haar 18 (16 points)

Josh Rice 15 (16 points/4-for-4 on 3’s)

Gordon 97

ENC 90

Next for Gordon is a league game on Saturday at Western New England.

Box from the game

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Christian Lynch goes for a block

Garrisson Duvivier rejects Andrew Mitchell’s shot

Noah Cheney (#2) drives the middle

Garrisson Duvivier gets in close

Jaren Yang

Garrisson Duvivier looks to shoot

Sam Johnson chases a loose ball

Andrew Petrilli fires a three

 

 

Gordon surprises ENC 87-85 in overtime

Garrisson Duvivier deflects Laquan Gomes’ last-second shot in overtime

The Gordon team and their fans celebrate the win

(Wenham MA) Wondering what those loud noises you heard this afternoon on the Gordon campus in Wenham were all about?

That was Gordon and Eastern Nazarene going at it in men’s basketball.

The families and friends of both teams packed the Bennett Center and both collections of fans had plenty to get excited about.

The biggest cheer of all? It came after the final buzzer as the Gordon side enjoyed the realization that they had just taken down ENC, 87-85, in overtime.

Garrisson Duvivier (27 points/16 rebounds) had a huge game for Gordon

The win was no small task. The Lions (13-6) took the first meeting, 100-84, and had won five straight. ENC had two wins over Endicott. They’re very good!

But on this afternoon the Scots (9-10) were just enough better to stun the visitors.

How did the Scots do it? How much time do you have to read? Trust me, there was no straight line to the finish.

Gordon, coming off twenty-five turnovers in the first meeting, picked up right where they left off at the start of this game. Four turnovers, and an 11-1 deficit later, Coach Tod Murphy pulled the plug on all five starters. The reserves were able to stop the bleeding and GC reached a 17-17 tie.

ENC led, 36-34, at halftime.

In their previous game, the Lions were only in front by four against Curry before exploding for a 54-point second half to blow out the Colonels.

Noah Szilagyi hit this floater in OT

Could the Scots keep such a barrage from being dropped on them? It turns out that they could. The shot blockers were out (GC had nine of them) and Gordon had multiple shot makers.

Garrisson Duvivier had the game of his young Gordon life overpowering the Lions for an impressive twenty-seven inside points.   Add on long-range accuracy (5-for-7) by Noah Szilagyi and the Scots weren’t going away.

But ENC has arguably the best player in the Commonwealth Coast Conference in senior Jaylen Owens. The guard’s defense (four steals) and shooting touch from anywhere (29 points) were a big part of keeping the Lions in the lead in the second half.

With 3:56 to go ENC was up 69-62 and seemed to have enough on both ends of the court to finish off the Scots. But the Lions would only score once the rest of regulation.

Jaren Yang faces some Jaylen Owens defense

The teams went in two different directions: Gordon shot from in close while ENC opted for launch-and-pray.

The Scots style worked and they were able to run ten unanswered points to take a 72-69 lead. Eight free throws (out of twelve) and a Garrisson layin were where the points came from. Those four missed free throws, however, turned out to be important.

After Noah Szilagyi missed the second of two free throws, Jaylen Owens crossed midcourt and let fly with a “Hail, Mary” basketball style. The shot went in to send the game into OT and believe me every Lions’ fan in the house let out a roar.

That may have been more of a roar of relief because prior to the tying three-pointer, the visitors had missed five straight long ones and had two turnovers. ENC was fortunate to still be playing.

Jaylen Owens (29 points) sends the game into overtime

Overtime? Six lead changes. Jaylen and Noah each collected eight points. Three different times Noah answered baskets by Jaylen with two 3’s and a layup of his own. Noah’s last basket was a floater in the lane with eight seconds to go to put GC ahead, 86-85.

After a timeout, there wasn’t a person in the house doubting that Jaylen Owens would somehow, some way get the final shot. It made sense. But on this possession, after Jaylen raced into the frontcourt, he passed, instead, inside to a cutting teammate (Laquan Gomes). Laquan had shot-blocking Garrisson nearby and rushed the layup and missed it.

Sam Johnson took in the rebound and got fouled with one second left. Sam missed the first free throw and then tried to miss the second one (to get the clock to run out) but it went in. The miss gave ENC a chance to get a final launch-and-pray (Lequan Gomes) which Garrisson deflected to end the game. WHEW!

Laquan Gomes misses a layup in overtime

Now you know what all the shouting was about.

The real beauty of the overtime was that the team with twenty-five turnovers (Gordon) didn’t have any in those five minutes.

The remarkable game by Garrisson (27 points/16 rebounds) overshadowed the quiet double/double turned in by junior teammate Sam Johnson. Sam registered his 11^th double/double (14 points/11 rebounds) of the season.

Unsung hero? Sophomore Jake Hart. Jake spent thirty-six minutes chasing Jaylen Owens around. Jaylen did get 29 points but it took him 26 shots to get them thanks in part to Jake’s defense. The one getting the “MVP” chants from the ENC fans also had six turnovers. Jake also found a way to get eight points and take in six rebounds. Easily his best game of the season.

Efficiency Chart

Garrisson Duvivier 44

Sam Johnson 20

Lequan Gomes 19 (16 points)

Noah Szilagyi 17 (18 points)

Christian Lynch 16 (15 points)

Jaylen Owens 16 (29 points/4 steals)

Gordon 102

ENC 90

Jake Hart (8 points) gets inside for two of them

Next for Gordon will be a visit on Tuesday night to UNE in Biddeford (ME).

Boxscore

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Noah Szilagyi (eight points in OT)

Jaren Yang tries to split the Wagner twins

Udoka Obiora (3 blocks) waits for Eric Lynch

Jaylen Owens steals and then looks for defenders

Sam Johnson gets two

Game on!

Noah Szilagyi charges

Jaylen Owens shoots over Jake Hart

Sam Johnson comes face-to-face with a bad pass

Look away pass?

ENC wins 9th straight as Gordon falls 100-84

(Quincy/Amesbury) Undefeated ENC (9-0) is awfully, awfully good.

Not awfully, awfully tall (tallest player on the team is 6-3) but it didn’t make a bit of difference in a 100-84 win over Gordon (3-4) on Tuesday night in Quincy.

The Lions lived in the paint and that gave them a night full of high-percentage shots. They collected forty-six points in that area in this one.

ENC also forced mistakes all game long. The Scots got burned for a season high twenty-five turnovers that led directly to thirty-five ENC points. In the first half Jaren Yang and Luke Meyer collected seven of GC’s fourteen. The second half saw the TO number drop to eleven but remarkably nine different players contributed to that total.

The Scots started well and were still tied (24-24) with 8+ minutes left in the first half. After that? The slide to a double-digit deficit was quick (three minutes) and the Scots could not defend well enough to generate hopes of a comeback.

The key to this loss, in my opinion, was ENC’s ability to get so many easy shots. The Scots scored a ton of points but gave up a ton +. In the half-court offense, ENC seemed to have little trouble dribbling into the lane. The Scots also paid dearly almost every time a Gordon guard got below the foul line. How? On any missed shot the Lions were quick to outlet and fast break. On the ENC video feed I saw far too many 3-on-2’s and 2-on-1’s that led to layups for the home team. The Lions’ unselfishness produced twenty-two assists.

Sam Johnson turned in a double/double (16 points/11 rebounds) and an efficiency score of 27 which is his best in a GC uniform. Three assists, two blocks, and a steal were part of special performance for the GC junior.

The rest of the performers of note were all Lions.

Efficiency Stats

Sam Johnson 27

Jaylen Owens 23 (20 points/7 assists/3 steals)

Lequan Gomes 23 (20 points/6 rebounds/4 steals)

Christian Lynch 18 (13 points/7 rebounds)

Jeremy Wagner 15 (9 points/5 rebounds)

Eastern Nazarene 119

Gordon 91

There was little wrong with Gordon’s shooting in this one. They shot over 50% and made eleven three’s. But there were a season-high twenty-five empty possessions. Also giving up 100 points might get you a win in the NBA but not in the Commonwealth Coast Conference.

The Scots are winless (0-4) on the road and their next two games are on the road this weekend (Friday/Saturday) in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It would be nice to go into the Christmas break with at least one win away from home.

Box Score

 

 

Jaylen Owens (27 points) dominates last minute in ENC’s 65-59 win over Gordon

Jaylen Owens (shown covering Park Thomas) put up seven of his twenty-seven points in the final minute

(Amesbury MA)  Jaylen Owens is not the opponent you want taking shots in the last minute.

The decorated junior (2012-13 CCC Rookie of the Year & 2013-2014 CCC First Team) canned a three, a two, and two free throws in the final minute and carried Eastern Nazarene to a 65-59 win over Gordon on Saturday afternoon in Quincy.

The Scots (11-14) end the regular season with two straight losses and now enter with Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament on Tuesday night (7PM) in Boston versus Wentworth.

Gordon played well enough to win but tortured the GC attendees and those of us viewing by unraveling completely in the final four minutes to earn a defeat.  The Scots led 57-54 at the entrance but the rest of the way made one of seven shots and had two turnovers.  Not a good time to put that collection of unfortunate offense together for sure.

Hans Miersma had a double/double against ENC

Hans Miersma’s seventeen points and seventeen rebounds combined for yet another double/double for the 6-9 senior.

Efficiency
Hans Miersma 26
Alex Jarman 20 (10 rebounds/4 assists)
Jaylen Owens 19 (27 points/6 rebounds)
Corey Doran 11 (10 points)
Christian Lynch 10 (12 points)

ENC 74
Gordon 57

It was good to see Taylor Bajema back in action after missing five games.

ENC full-court pressure produced twenty-two Gordon turnovers.  The Lions (21-4) collected twenty-two points off of those turnovers.  Dribbling in traffic (more than one defender) and subpar passing and pass receiving are leading to too many wasted possessions.

Taylor Bajema returned to action after missing five games

The CCC tournament is always an exciting time.  Who among the Gordon faithful can forget the last two CCC finals?

You would almost have to think that the eventual winner this year would be from among; Nichols (20-5), Endicott (20-5), and ENC (21-4).  The other five teams in the tourney, including Gordon, do not even have winning records.  Nichols and Endicott split during the regular season while ENC’s four losses are to Nichols and Endicott.  The neighboring Gulls have won eleven straight and defeated Nichols the last time they played.  A final on Saturday at Nichols between those two would seem quite likely.

However, what should be doesn’t always turn out that way.  Nearly a year ago I was under the Gordon basket at Nichols with 10 ½ minutes left in the championship game.  The Scots were down by seventeen but miraculously went on to win by four and take the title.

Can Gordon win a second-straight championship?  The Scots are 1-5 against the teams (UNE, Nichols, Wentworth) in their bracket.

Gordon will win (Are you listening Jaren, Dylan, Dominic, Jake, and Craig?) if someone has a big game from the outside in each of the three games.  The turnovers will have to be cut back and the free throw shooting (7-for-14 vs. ENC) must get better.  It can be done!

Box from ENC game