WENHAM, Mass.—Gordon Men's Basketball held off a furious comeback effort from visiting Western New England to post its three straight victory, 64-61. The Fighting Scots built up a big lead late in the second half, but the Golden Bears started hitting the deep ball to make things interesting in the waning minute at the Bennett Center. Gordon improves to 5-6 on the season and 2-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, while WNE drops to 3-7 (1-2 CCC).
 
The Fighting Scots fell into an early hole with nothing falling on the offensive end. Western New England fought through the sloppy play and pulled ahead to a 16-9 lead halfway through the opening half. Gordon was able to counter back with an 8-1 run of its own to pull even with just over seven minutes to play.
 
Following a Gordon timeout, the Fighting Scots extended their run with six consecutive points and grabbed a 23-17 advantage. Ultimately the Fighting Scots closed out the half by outscoring the Golden Bears 29-11 in the final nine minutes of the period. Western New England struggled to guard Gordon's height inside, as Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) and Jason Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) each contributed 10 points in the first half to give the Fighting Scots a 38-27 halftime lead.
 
Western New England leading scorer Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) was held to six points in the first half. Gordon shot a blistering 60-percent from the field, while holding its opponents to a mark of 37.
 
Gordon looked as if they would coast to an easy victory by building a 17-point lead with only 5:32, but the Golden Bears had other ideas. Western New England took advantage of a variety of Gordon's miscues and quickly whittled a large deficit down to only two points with 21 ticks on the clock. The deep ball was kind to the Golden Bears in the final five minutes while Gordon went four minutes without hitting a single shot from the field.
 
Lucien Fortier (Southbury, Conn.) drained a triple to pull WNE within a point, but Gordon was able to knock down a pair of free throws to extend its lead back to three. A half-court shot by Gelineau fell short and Gordon survived a heart-stopping comeback.
 
Gelineau scored nine second half points and was the only Golden Bear to reach double figures with 15 total points. Fortier, a freshman swingman, chipped in nine. Zack Askew (Middletown, Conn.) led Western New England with six rebounds, all one the defensive end of the floor. Luis Agrait (South Hadley, Mass.) led all players with three steals off the bench.
 
Dempsey led all scorers with 18 points and was perfect from the field. The senior forward did most of his damage at the free-throw line, where he made eight of his 14 attempts. He also finished with 10 boards and a block in 34 minutes. Miersma only scored one basket in the second half, but contributed an 18-rebound evening.
CCC Rookie of the Week Jaren Yang (San Francisco, Calif.) also had a solid night with 15 points and a game-high four assists.
 
Western New England returns to its home court on Thursday for a CCC matchup with Nichols. Gordon goes on the road to take on CCC foe Curry.