Box Score

WENHAM, Mass. - Sophomore Matt Langadas (Sebago, Maine) scored a team-high 19 points for Nichols College, which dropped an 86-83 decision at Gordon College in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Saturday afternoon.

The loss gives the Bison (13-12, 8-10 CCC) the No. 6 seed in the conference playoffs and sets up a first round matchup with the No. 3 seeded Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Boston. Freshman Irving Eggleston (East Lyme, Conn.) added 18 points and senior Craig Merrick (Ledyard, Conn.) tallied nine on three 3-point field goals.

Gordon senior David Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) led all scorers with 23 points to go with eight boards in the win while junior Luke Hamilton (Mount Airy, N.C.) went 5-of-7 from downtown for 15 points to go with six rebounds. Junior Alex Carnes (Phoenix, Ariz.) recorded 13 points and four rebounds while junior Park Thomas (Scottsdale, Ariz.) registered eight assists to tie his season-high.
 
The Scots shot 52 percent (33-of-63) from the floor - including 47 percent from behind the arc (8-of-17) - and out-rebounded their guests 49-31 in the win. Nichols shot 43 percent (31-of-71) with 50 its 83 points coming from the bench.
 
Gordon took an early lead following an 11-2 run in the opening four minutes behind six points from Hamilton. The Scots then received back-to-back dunks from David Dempsey and one from sophomore center Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.), but Langadas cut Gordon's lead down to four (21-17 at 12:20) by hitting Nichols next 12 points. That would be as close as the Bison would get in the half, though, as Gordon stretched the lead to 15 by the break.
 
After a slow start in the second, the Scots steadily increased their advantage to 20 at the 9:39 mark and looked to have the game in hand. Nichols, however, refused to go down without a fight, and slowly chipped away at the deficit. They utilized an 11-1 run in the final two-and-a-half minutes - capped off by a three from freshman guard Christian Horton (Rutland, Mass.) - to make it a one-point game (84-83). But a pair of clutch free throws from sophomore guard Taylor Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) with eight seconds remaining and a missed buzzer-beater at the other end by Eggleston gave the Scots the narrow three-point win.
 
Having captured the No. 2 seed for the upcoming CCC Championship tournament, the Scots will host No. 7 Roger Williams University on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. 

Contributions from Gordon sports information