BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Alex Carnes (Phoenix, Ariz.) came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points as the Gordon College men's basketball team won its second straight game with a 59-45 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at Tansey Gymnasium.
With the win the Fighting Scots improve to 10-8 overall and 9-4 in CCC play while the Leopards dip to 9-10 (6-6).
The Leopards missed their first eight shots, however the Fighting Scots had only managed to take a 4-0 lead during that stretch. It wasn't until the 14:47 mark that the hosts got on the board when junior John-Michael Fragnoli (Scotia, N.Y.) hit a jumper to cut the lead in half. Junior Jason Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) would score a second chance basket to make it a four-point game before senior Derek Mayo (Casco, Maine) hit one of two free throws and classmate Scott Moran (Orange, Conn.) drained a three to tie the score at 6-all with 12:23 remaining.
That would be the lone tie of the half as Gordon used a 13-2 run over the next six minutes and took a 19-8 lead on a senior Shaun Roach (Weymouth, Mass.) layup. Four straight points from junior Ray Bessette (Dedham, Maine) made it a 19-12 game with 5:04 left, however back-to-back 3-pointers from Carnes and freshman Domenic Paradis (Rochester, N.H.) pushed the lead to 13, which is what the margin would be after the first 20:00 of play (29-16). Gordon shot 52.4 percent from the floor in the first half while holding Wentworth to 22.7 percent.
Wentworth opened the second half on a 13-2 run with Mayo hitting three shots from behind the arc, including one with 15:28 left to make it a 31-29 game. However, Gordon would keep the Leopards off the scoreboard for the next 7:16, using a 16-0 run to lead by 18 when Paradis drained a 3-pointer with 9:02 to play. The Fighting Scots would lead by as many as 20 before the Black & Gold cut the lead to 14 twice late.
Gordon's reserves scored 43 of its 59 points as, in addition to Carnes (who also had five rebounds and three assists), freshman Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) scored nine points and Paradis added eight. Junior Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) had seven rebounds and three blocks in the win. The Fighting Scots shot 55.3 percent from the floor for the game and held a 40-20 rebounding advantage.
Mayo had 14 points and three steals for Wentworth, while Bessette and sophomore Cam Sennick (Wilton, Maine) added 10 and six points, respectively.
Both teams continue CCC play on Tuesday as Gordon hosts Western New England and Wentworth hosts the University of New England.
