(Portions of this release courtesy of Gordon College Sports Information)
WENHAM, Mass., -- Gordon College sophomore center Jeff Derr (Barrington, Ill.) scored a career-high 17 points off the bench including three three-pointers to lead the Fighting Scots past Wentworth Institute of Technology, 73-61, in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Tournament Quarterfinals tonight in the Bennett Center on the campus of Gordon College.
In a re-match of last season’s TCCC Tournament Semifinals, the No. 3 seed Fighting Scots (18-8) and sixth seeded Leopards (14-11) set an upbeat pace from the opening tip. The Scots wasted no time launching threes as sophomore guard Aaron Trigg (Overland Park, Kans.) gave GC an early 6-4 lead and senior forward Michael Schnackenberg (South Portland, Maine) made it 8-4 on a jumper in the paint on an assist from Trigg. WIT senior guard Sherrad Prezzie-Blue (Norwalk, Conn.) retaliated with a three and sophomore forward Shane West (Saco, Maine) gave the visitors a 9-8 lead with 16:04 to play in the opening period.
With the score knotted at 15-all, Trigg hit his third trey in the opening eight minutes before Prezzie-Blue shot right back with a three to keep it tied at 18 apiece. The Scots then quickly ripped off an 11-0 run with three from long-range as senior guard Justin Kaufman (Redding, Conn.), Trigg and Derr all knocked down a three to make it a 29-18 contest with just under nine minutes to play in the first half.
The Scots would lead by as many as 15, 37-22, as Derr hit yet another three pointer in the half before Wentworth would close within six on a 12-3 run which included 11 points from Prezzie-Blue as he knocked down a trey on three of four possessions in a 1:26 span. The Scots would close out the half with a lay-up from sophomore guard Brady Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) as the score read 42-34 in favor of the home team at the break.
In the first half, the Scots were 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from three-point range with Derr and Trigg combining for seven of those threes. On the other end, Prezzie-Blue was a perfect 5-for-5 from deep and 7-of-9 overall from the floor as he had 21 points at the break.
“We were trying to grind it out,” said Wentworth head coach Tom Devitt. “I thought we were fine at the half, even though we were down. I told our guys that it’s still a two- or three-possession game.”
In the opening minutes of the second half, the teams continued the fast pace, and Wentworth would trail by seven, 45-38, after junior guard Todd Doyle (Mystic, Conn.) hit a jumper with 18:58 to play in the half. GC then used an 11-2 run over the next four minutes capped by a Schnackenberg three-point play and a Derr lay-up as the score read 58-40 with just over 15:00 to play.
Prezzie-Blue hit a three with 14:43 to play and senior guard Ed Bolton (Silver Spring, Md.) earned a three-point play to make it a 12 point contest, 58-46, with 13:20 to go. Following a Schnackenberg lay-up to make it a 60-46 contest with 11:21 to play, neither side would score in a 4:30 span.
Following the scoring drought, the Scots worked their way to a 17 point lead, 69-52, as Trigg hit his sixth three of the contest with 2:25 to play. The Leopards would continue to fight and closed within 12 but ran out of time as the Scots earned the 73-61 victory. In the victory, the Fighting Scots set a school-record for home wins in a season with 14.
“Games have ebbs and flows; runs like Gordon had in the first half and the drought like we had in the second half,” said Devitt. “You have to weather them. It’s definitely a credit to Gordon’s defense. They were very good with the help side tonight. I thought our movement wasn’t as sharp as it could be. In first half, we had to focus on getting better screening action.”
In defeat, Prezzie-Blue finished with a game-high 29 points while West added 10 points and seven boards. Junior forward Weonard Bynes (Bridgeport, Conn.) led all players with eight boards and had four assists.
For Gordon, Trigg led the way with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and 6-for-8 from downtown. Derr added 17 off the bench while Schnackenberg had 15 points and two blocks; Kaufman tallied 10 points and four assists. The Fighting Scots shot 55.3 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from long-range as they finished with 12 three pointers.
The Fighting Scots will advance to take on Roger Williams University in the TCCC Tournament Semifinals in Bristol, R.I. on Thursday (Feb. 28) at 7:00 p.m. Wentworth is in the running for an ECAC Tournament berth, however, if the Leopards are not selected, Prezzie-Blue and fellow seniors Bolton and Gil Ward (Mystic, Conn.) have played their final game for the Black & Gold.
“Sherrad [Prezzie-Blue] has been the single reason this program has landed on any kind of map,” added Devitt. If his career ends tonight, he will have scored almost 1,800 (1,781) points, and shot 47 percent from the floor. He is a tremendous, classy young man and I can’t say enough good things about him. I will miss him greatly.”
Official Basketball Box Score Wentworth vs Gordon 02/26/08 7:00 p.m. at Wenham, Mass. (Bennett Center) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Wentworth 14-11 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 42 Weonard Bynes....... f 3-5 0-0 1-2 5 3 8 1 7 4 0 0 0 31 44 Sherrad Prezzie-Blue f 10-18 6-8 3-3 0 1 1 0 29 2 0 0 2 37 52 Shane West.......... f 5-8 0-0 0-1 1 6 7 1 10 2 2 0 1 31 14 Todd Doyle.......... g 3-12 0-3 2-2 1 6 7 2 8 1 3 0 0 35 20 Brad Bryant......... g 0-4 0-3 0-2 0 1 1 4 0 1 2 0 0 22 11 Kevin Wentworth..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 12 Ed Bolton........... 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 1 1 3 3 0 1 0 0 20 23 Matt Abbott......... 2-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 4 1 3 1 0 14 24 Gil Ward............ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 32 Pat LaCasse......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 TEAM................ 1 Totals.............. 24-53 6-14 7-11 7 20 27 14 61 11 12 1 3 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-22 54.5% 2nd Half: 12-31 38.7% Game: 45.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 42.9% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 63.6% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Gordon 18-8 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 13 Jon Marstaller...... f 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 3 3 5 2 3 0 0 0 16 31 Michael Schnackenber f 6-11 0-0 3-3 0 5 5 2 15 1 1 2 1 34 04 Brady Bajema........ g 2-5 1-4 0-0 1 1 2 3 5 4 2 0 0 31 12 Aaron Trigg......... g 7-11 6-8 2-2 0 7 7 3 22 5 3 0 1 39 24 Justin Kaufman...... g 3-6 2-4 2-5 0 1 1 1 10 4 1 0 1 38 03 Ben Gaskill......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 32 Jeff Derr........... 6-9 3-4 2-2 1 3 4 0 17 3 3 0 1 23 33 Tim MacDonnell...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 11 43 Keith Krass......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ TEAM................ 3 3 Totals.............. 26-47 12-21 9-12 2 24 26 16 73 21 10 2 5 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-25 60.0% 2nd Half: 11-22 50.0% Game: 55.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 9-13 69.2% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 57.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 75.0% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: James Slattery, Joe Rogers, James Young Technical fouls: Wentworth-None. Gordon-None. Attendance: 550 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Wentworth..................... 34 27 - 61 Gordon........................ 42 31 - 73 The Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament Quarterfinals Gordon Advances to TCCC Semifinals Points in the paint-WIT 26,GC 20. Points off turnovers-WIT 11,GC 16. 2nd chance points-WIT 14,GC 0. Fast break points-WIT 0,GC 0. Bench points-WIT 7,GC 19. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-7 times. Last FG-WIT 2nd-00:06, GC 2nd-02:25. Largest lead-WIT by 2 1st-19:59, GC by 19 2nd-02:03.