Kadare Brown scored a career-best 23 points, including eight in the final 40 seconds
Box Score
WENHAM, Mass. -- Trailing by 11 with under a minute to play, the University of New England staged a late rally but the host Gordon College Fighting Scots held on for a 64-61 The Commmonwealth Coast Conference men's basketball victory Wednesday evening at the Bennett Center.
After a pair of Brady Bajema free throws gave Gordon a seemingly comfortable 61-50 lead with 46 seconds left, the Nor'easters went wild. Junior Kadare Brown sandwiched three-pointers around a Quentin Thompson trey to cut the UNE deficit to two (61-59) with 10 ticks remaining.
Gordon would make 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch to improve its overall record to 20-4, 11-1 in conference play.
Austin Bentson led a balanced Fighting Scot offense with 11 points. David Dempsey came off the bench to score nine points and grab eight boards, while Benjamin Gaskill added eight points, a game-high 16 boards and two blocked shots.
Brown led all scorers with a career-best 23 points. He converted 5 of 8 shots from beyond the arc and added eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Marcus Winn scored 10 points, including three 3-point field goals. Thompson finished with eight points and 12 caroms.
Down 25-24 at the half, the Nor'easters stormed out of the locker room, scoring eight unanswered points to grab a 32-25 advantage.
The hosts countered with a 10-0 run -- punctuated by a Gaskill dunk -- to give Gordon a three-point (35-32) cushion at the 14:27 mark. The Fighting Scots would lead the rest of the way, although UNE was able to get as close as two on three separate occasions.
Both teams struggled shooting the basketball -- Gordon made 38.5 percent (20 of 52) of its field goal attempts while UNE shot just 32.8 percent (21 of 64). The Scots got to the free throw line 31 times (23 makes) compared to 11 Nor'easter freebie attempts.
Big Blue started the contest quickly, forging a 19-6 lead over the opening 6:54. Gordon steadied itself with six straight free throws and several late buckets in the paint to grab a one-point (25-24) lead at the break.
The Nor'easters (11-12, 7-5 TCCC) will wrap up their regular season Saturday with a 3 p.m. road game at Nichols College. A UNE win will ensure the Nor'easters a home quarterfinal-round playoff game when the TCCC Championship kicks off next Tuesday (Feb. 23).
