Endicott hangs on to beat Gordon, 71-68
December 3, 2009
Box Score
WENHAM, Mass. - The visiting Endicott College Gulls defeated Gordon College 71-68 in an instant classic at the Bennett Center on Thursday night. Endicott withstood a furious second half rally from the Scots to scratch out a hard fought victory in this year's non-conference version of the local rivalry.
With 7:58 remaining in the second half Endicott was in complete control, leading 59-42. Over the next 4:29 Gordon went on a 20-2 run to take a 62-61 lead as Brady Bajema exploded for 13 points in that stretch. Endicott answered back, and tied the game at 2:30 on a jumper by \#Mike Rhodes\# (Amston, Conn.). Matt Bibeau's (Wilmington, Mass.) jumper with 1:25 left gave Endicott the lead, but Bajema answered with another long jumper to tie the score with 1:12 remaining.
The game swung in the final minute, as Endicott stepped up with two strong defensive plays. After \#Erik Callo\# (Southington, Conn.) drained two free throws to put the Gulls up 67-65, \#Danquah Rawlins\# (Mattapan, Mass.) stole the ball from Aaron Trigg and converted a layup on the opposite end to put Endicott up by 4. Gordon answered immediately as Trigg banked home a layup and was fouled on the play. He converted the charity toss to pull Gordon with one.
Gordon fouled \#Danquah Rawlins\# with :22 seconds remaining. When he missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Bajema got off a contested look for 3 with 15 seconds remaining that would have put Gordon in front, however, his shot rattled out and Gordon was forced to foul \#Erik Callo\#. Callo sank 2 more free throws to put Endicott up 71-68. The Scots final attempt to tie the game ended when \#Jamie D'Amaral\# (Scottsdale, Ariz.) stole the ball of the right wing before a shot was attempted.
Endicott had 3 scorers in double figures as \#Matt Bibeau\#, \#Erik Callo\# and \#Aaron Karkow\# (Uncasville, Conn.) had 16, 14 and 12 points respectively. The Scots backcourt of Trigg and Bajema combined for 45, as Bajema led all scorers with 23 and Trigg had 22. Ben Gaskill added 13 rebounds.
Endicott dominated the first half, taking a 40-25 lead into the break, as Karkow scored all 12 of his points in the first half, draining 3 treys. Gordon missed 10 free throws in the opening stanza.
The two teams will face each other again, when Endicott hosts Gordon on January 30 in Beverly.
Gordon drops to 4-2 with the loss and will travel to Cambridge on Saturday to face MIT while Endicott stands at 3-2 and will play home against Clark on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Release courtesy of Gordon College Sports Information
WENHAM, Mass. - The visiting Endicott College Gulls defeated Gordon College 71-68 in an instant classic at the Bennett Center on Thursday night. Endicott withstood a furious second half rally from the Scots to scratch out a hard fought victory in this year's non-conference version of the local rivalry.
With 7:58 remaining in the second half Endicott was in complete control, leading 59-42. Over the next 4:29 Gordon went on a 20-2 run to take a 62-61 lead as Brady Bajema exploded for 13 points in that stretch. Endicott answered back, and tied the game at 2:30 on a jumper by \#Mike Rhodes\# (Amston, Conn.). Matt Bibeau's (Wilmington, Mass.) jumper with 1:25 left gave Endicott the lead, but Bajema answered with another long jumper to tie the score with 1:12 remaining.
The game swung in the final minute, as Endicott stepped up with two strong defensive plays. After \#Erik Callo\# (Southington, Conn.) drained two free throws to put the Gulls up 67-65, \#Danquah Rawlins\# (Mattapan, Mass.) stole the ball from Aaron Trigg and converted a layup on the opposite end to put Endicott up by 4. Gordon answered immediately as Trigg banked home a layup and was fouled on the play. He converted the charity toss to pull Gordon with one.
Gordon fouled \#Danquah Rawlins\# with :22 seconds remaining. When he missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Bajema got off a contested look for 3 with 15 seconds remaining that would have put Gordon in front, however, his shot rattled out and Gordon was forced to foul \#Erik Callo\#. Callo sank 2 more free throws to put Endicott up 71-68. The Scots final attempt to tie the game ended when \#Jamie D'Amaral\# (Scottsdale, Ariz.) stole the ball of the right wing before a shot was attempted.
Endicott had 3 scorers in double figures as \#Matt Bibeau\#, \#Erik Callo\# and \#Aaron Karkow\# (Uncasville, Conn.) had 16, 14 and 12 points respectively. The Scots backcourt of Trigg and Bajema combined for 45, as Bajema led all scorers with 23 and Trigg had 22. Ben Gaskill added 13 rebounds.
Endicott dominated the first half, taking a 40-25 lead into the break, as Karkow scored all 12 of his points in the first half, draining 3 treys. Gordon missed 10 free throws in the opening stanza.
The two teams will face each other again, when Endicott hosts Gordon on January 30 in Beverly.
Gordon drops to 4-2 with the loss and will travel to Cambridge on Saturday to face MIT while Endicott stands at 3-2 and will play home against Clark on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Release courtesy of Gordon College Sports Information