SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 27, 2016) - The Gordon College men's basketball team made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 28 seconds, edging Western New England University 74-70 this evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.
 
Western New England, which led 67-65 after a layup by freshman guard Mikey Pettway (Bridgeport, Conn.) with two minutes remaining in the game, fell victim to a 9-3 Gordon run the rest of the way as the Fighting Scots held on for a four-point win.
 
Junior Sam Johnson (Chatham, Mass.) answered Pettway's basket with a layup of his own to level the score at 67, and freshman Garrisson Duvivier (Brockton, Mass.) tipped in Johnson's miss with 51 seconds on the clock to give Gordon the lead for good.
 
Western New England junior guard Mike Gelineau (Waltham, Mass.) drained a three-pointer with 15 seconds on the clock, cutting the Golden Bears' deficit to two (72-70), but freshman Noah Szilagyi (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) sealed the win for the visitors with a pair of free throws in the closing seconds.
 
Gelineau's late triple was his fifth of the night, as he finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point distance to go with a 3-for-4 effort at the charity stripe. Senior guard Luis Agrait (South Hadley, Mass.) was also in double-figures with 13 points, six assists, and four rebounds, while classmate Zack Askew (Middletown, Conn.) added 14 points, five boards and three blocks.
 
Johnson and Duvivier paced the Gordon offense with 21 and 20 points, respectively, while freshman guard Eric Demers (West Wareham, Mass.) finished with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists.
 
Gelineau helped the Golden Bears to an early 11-4 lead, knocking down a pair of three-pointers, but a Johnson layup at the 14:21 mark had Gordon back within two (11-9). Pettway hit a jumper 30 seconds later, however, sparking a 9-0 Western New England run as the home team opened up a 20-9 advantage with 11:41 left before the break.
 
The Golden Bears led by ten (27-17) following a layup by Askew with just under seven minutes remaining in the half, but Gordon used a 12-4 run the rest of the way to close to within two (31-29) heading into the locker room.
 
A back-and-forth second half saw the Fighting Scots take their largest lead of the game (39-34) on a trey by Demers at the 17:48 mark, a margin they led by on three separate occasions. Neither team was able to pull away, however, as the game was not decided until the closing seconds.
 
Western New England shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the field and Gordon posted a near identical 44.3 percent (27-of-61) clip, while both teams shot exactly 50 percent (14-of-28) in the second half. The Fighting Scots controlled the paint, outscoring the Golden Bears 46-13, and the visitors also scored 23 second chance points with the help of 19 offensive rebounds.
 
Western New England (6-12, 4-7 CCC) heads to Roger Williams on Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest, while Gordon (8-10, 5-6 CCC) returns home to host Eastern Nazarene.