WENHAM, Mass. – For the second season in a row Wentworth Institute of Technology men's basketball team faced Gordon College in the semifinal round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and for the second straight season, the Fighting Scots earn a trip to the conference championship after defeating the Leopards, 66-55.
With the win third-seeded Gordon improves to 16-10 and will travel to top-seeded Nichols (22-5), an 83-80 (overtime) winner over fourth-seeded Salve Regina while seventh-seeded Wentworth ends its season at 12-15.
The Fighting Scots were led by Jason Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.), who had a season-high 18 points in the win.
Gordon took a 14-5 lead 6:14 into the contest after Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) and Dempsey combined for 10 points and extended its lead to 17-5 when Alex Carnes (Phoenix, Ariz.) drained a 3-pointer. A 3-pointer from freshman Jherson Colon (Boston, Mass.) and basket by senior Derek Mayo (Casco, Maine) cut the lead to 17-10, the Fighting Scots used an 8-1 lead to push their lead to 25-11.
The Leopards used a 9-4 spurt to close the gap to 29-20 after sophomore Cam Sennick (Wilton, Maine) hit a jumper, but Taylor Bajema's (Whitinsville, Mass.) layup with four seconds left gave the hosts an 11-point lead at the break.
Gordon opened its lead to 49-29 with just over 10 minutes left in regulation, however a pair of 3-pointers from senior Scott Moran (Orange, Conn.) helped key a 16-6 Leopard run which cut the lead in half (55-45) with 4:33 left. However, that would be as close as the Black & Gold would get as Gordon used an 8-3 spurt to increase the lead to 15 with 1:23 left.
In addition to Dempsey, Miersma had eight points, 11 rebounds, and a pair of blocks which set the program's single-season mark for blocked shots. Park Thomas (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had a dozen points, including eclipsing the 1,000-point mark for his career, and added seven assists.
Colon led all scorers with 20 points while Mayo added 10 points, seven rebounds, nine assists, and five steals to close out his collegiate career The Leopards were held to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor and were beaten on the glass by a 41-26 margin.
