Wenham, MA --- Gordon senior Park Thomas (Scottsdale, AZ) highlighted four in double-digits with 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds to help lead the Fighting Scots to an 86-73 victory over Worcester State in non-conference men's basketball action this evening.
For Gordon (1-3), Thomas did his damage on a 9-for-10 performance from the floor and he was a perfect from beyond the arc (5-for-5).
Senior Alex Carnes (Phoenix, AZ) added 19 points and six boards while junior Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, MA) and classmate Jason Dempsey (Wallingford, CT) both added 13 and 10 points, respectively.
The Lancers (0-3) were paced by senior Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) who registered his third consecutive double-double with 20 points and 11 caroms in the setback.
Junior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) poured in 20 points off an 8-for-11 night from the field as freshman Marquez McKreith-Collins (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) chipped in with eight points and six helpers.
The Fighting Scots jumped out to a 19-5 advantage five minutes into the contest before the visitors chipped away at the deficit with a 13-5 run to trail 24-18 with 10:22 left in the first period.
Gordon went back up into double-digits with 6:31 left to play (30-20) and went into the locker room at the intermission with the 41-28 lead.
Worcester State embarked on a furious comeback and sank six of their first seven shots from the field in a 14-3 spurt to trail by two with 15:54 remaining in regulation (44-42).
The Fighting Scots, however, took advantage of several missed scoring chances by the Lancers and erupted with a remarkable 24-8 surge for the commanding 68-50 margin with eight minutes left to play in the game.
Carnes notched 10 points in the outburst while Thomas and senior Mike Hamilton (Mount Airy, NC) both connected for trey's midway through the stanza.
In the waning minutes of the contest, the Lancers were able to get back to within nine points on a Rios three-pointer (77-68) with 2:24 on the clock and again after a sophomore Manny Cabral (Roslindale, MA/Belmont) field goal with 67 ticks left (80-71).
But Gordon went four-for-four at the line and Dempsey added a lay-up to finish the contest strong for the final score.
The hosts shot 54 percent for the game from the field (32-for-59) and made eight of their 17 tries from three-point land. They also led in rebounds (37-28), points off turnovers (27-17) and second chance points (14-4).
WSU hit 46 percent of their bids for the game (24-for-52), but only hit three of their 11 attempts from downtown and struggled from the charity stripe (22-for-35 – 63 percent).
Both squads continue their non-conference slate with road games against local opponents. Worcester State takes on WPI at 5:30 in a local rivalry battle while Gordon heads to Salem State in a North Shore Cup game at 7:30 PM.
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