BIDDEFORD, Maine—Gordon Men's Basketball ran its Commonwealth Coast Conference streak to two wins with a 74-62 result at the University of New England on Wednesday night at the Alfond Center. The Nor'easters erased a 16-point Gordon lead in the second half, but the Fighting Scots were the better team in the final quarter of regulation to pull off the all-important conference road victory.
The Fighting Scots advance their ledger to 5-2 in the CCC and 8-6 overall, good enough for third in the league as the team approaches the midway point of the conference slate. UNE falls to 4-10 this season and 2-5 in the conference.
Jake Haar (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was the catalyst on offense for the third game in a row, scoring Gordon's first 11 points en route to an 11-7 lead over the Nor'easters. Haar hit three of his first four attempts from deep and added a mid-range jumper to boot to help Gordon out of the gate. The Fighting Scots sent much of its starting lineup to the bench for the next stretch, but Gordon's reserves made three straight shots from the floor to extend the game out to 23-11.
The Fighting Scots led by as many as 16 points in the half despite Haar being the only starter with more than one made bucket and Gordon was able to hold on to a 38-26 halftime lead.
Gordon looked to be commanding the game fully when they grew the lead back to 16 points early in the second and holding UNE to empty possession in bunches.
Then C.J. Autry (Standish, Maine) happened. The senior hit a season-high five three-pointers, all coming in the first 10 minutes of the second half, to bring UNE all the way back to take a three-point lead at 51-48. Autry's previous season-high was three a week ago at Roger Williams. The senior also had a season-high 15 points.
After going six minutes with only two points to their name, Gordon was able to methodically work their way back into a groove. Garrisson Duvivier (Brockton, Mass.) made four consecutive shots and assisted on a fifth to help the Scots back to a lead they would never relinquish.
Gordon held UNE to just 11 points over the final 10 minutes after losing its 16-point lead due to the barrage of deep balls. The Fighting Scots took care of business at the line to keep the home team at an arm's length in the waning moments.
Haar and Duvivier tied for the game lead with 16 points each. The former scored just three points in the second half as UNE keyed in, opening things up for Duvivier to score 14 second-half points. Haar made his only attempted shot in the second period, a designed three from the corner. Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) added his 10th double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds, including an 8-of-10 night at the line.
Duvivier had a career-high eight assists compared to no turnovers, while Yang had four assists and only one giveaway.
Stat Stuffers
- Haar came into the night as the leading three-point shooter in all of Division III at 59.7%. The sophomore improved upon that mark even further by making four of his six attempts on Wednesday.
- Johnson was the second-best rebounder in the country entering Wednesday, but finished five rebounds short of his season average. He trailed the national leader by .1 boards per game.
- Gordon improved upon its rebound margin average with a 41-25 edge. The Scots headed into the game with the second best mark in the country with 13.4 rebound more per game than their opponents. Only Swarthmore out of the Centennial Conference averages a better margin at 13.6.