WENHAM, Mass. – A layup by Corey Fava (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) with 19 seconds to play proved to be the game-winning basket as Roger Williams snuck by Gordon 49-48 Wednesday evening at the Bennett Center.
With the win, RWU moves to 11-5 and 3-1 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference, while Gordon drops to 5-10 and 1-3 in the conference.
A layup by Greg Walker (Uxbridge, Mass.) had put the Scots up 48-47 with 48 seconds left. After a timeout, the Hawks isolated Fava at the top of the key and he drove inside the Gordon zone and banked in a shot from close range. Gordon's attempt to regain the lead was foiled when Hawks' senior Travis O'Dell (Brunswick, Maine) came up with a steal near halfcourt and called a timeout with 11 seconds remaining.
Gordon attempted to foul Roger Williams to get the ball back, but because the Scots had committed only four fouls at that point, Roger Williams was able to run the clock down to four seconds before going to the line. Fava's one-and-one attempt missed and was rebounded by David Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) with 3.3 seconds remaining. After calling a timeout, the Scots inbounded underneath their own hoop. Park Thomas' (Scottsdale, Ariz.) halfcourt shot glanced off the backboard at the buzzer giving Roger Williams a hard-fought win.
Gordon came out strong in the early going, aided by a two hustle plays from senior Austin Bentson (Branchville, N.J.) that led to immediate Gordon baskets. Bentson was one of three Gordon players in double figures finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Dempsey had 11 and Greg Walker led the Scots with 12. The Hawks trailed for much of the half, but took the lead with a second remaining on Fava's 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Roger Williams started the second half by going on an 11-5 spurt in the first 4:07, to take a 37-29 lead, the widest margin of the game. Gordon clawed back on a layup by Dempsey and a 3-pointer from Luke Hamilton (Mount Airy, N.C.) and took their first lead of the second half at the 8:45 mark on a Walker layup.
The game was close the rest of the way. There were eight ties and every statistical category was virtually even. Gordon shot 40% overall compared to the Hawks 38% and outrebounded RWU 33-32.
Fava and Taylor Petruccelli (Stratford, Conn.) scored 10 points apiece for RWU, while sophomore guard Mike Engemann (Red Bank, N.J.) led the Hawks with 11, sinking three treys. Gordon limited the Hawks' leading scorer Pat Flanagan (Somerville, Mass.) to just three points, but the 6'9" center had four blocks and seven rebounds.
Gordon will continue conference play on Saturday, January 22, with a 3PM matchup at Curry. Roger Williams hosts New England College at the same time.
– Release courtesy of the Gordon College Sports Information Department
