CHESTNUT HILL, MA - The Wheelock College men's basketball team raced out to a 14-point first-half advantage against 2010 NCAA Tournament qualifier Gordon College on Tuesday before succumbing to the visiting Fighting Scots, 72-65, at Pine Manor College's Brunelli Court. Now 4-6, each of the Wildcats' past four losses have come by nine points or less. The visitors, who are the defending tournament champions in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC), improved to 4-7.
Junior Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Cypress Bay) led Wheelock with 15 points, seven assists and three steals. Sophomore Bashir Hudson (Jamaica Plain, MA/Weston) totaled 14 points and five rebounds, while senior Patsy DiNuzzo (Beaver, PA/Beaver) hit four three-pointers off the bench in scoring 13 points in 19 minutes. Junior Kyle Pierce (Burlington, MA/Burlington) turned in 10 points, six assists and five rebounds, and classmate Eric Rice (Woburn, MA/Woburn) had six boards for the Wildcats, who last played on Dec. 14, and most recently at home on Dec. 7.
Senior Greg Walker (Uxbridge, MA) and sophomore David Dempsey (Wallingford, CT) combined for 45 of Gordon's 72 points, as well as 28 of its 42 rebounds. Walker finished with 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds, and Dempsey had 19 points, 16 rebounds, four blocks and three steals. Junior Garrett Harden (Worcester, MA) added three threes for nine points.
Wheelock scored the game's first six points and led 12-2 on a Hudson fast-break dunk 5:27 into the contest, eventually pushing its lead to 14 on a pair of occasions, last when Hudson hit a jumper 8:36 before halftime to make the score 23-9. At that point, the Wildcats were shooting 11-for-18 and held Gordon to a 4-for-18 showing.
The Fighting Scots responded with 19 of the game's next 25 points during a 5:48 stretch, culminating in Walker tipping in a teammate's miss to bring the visitors within 29-28 at 2:30. A DiNuzzo three reestablished a four-point edge for the hosts, who carried a 32-29 lead into the intermission. The Wildcats shot 50 percent in the opening stanza before turning in a 31.7-percent showing in the second half, while Gordon shot 35.3 percent in the first period before using a 57.1-percent performance to come from behind and pull away in the final stanza.
The teams played through five lead changes and three ties in the last period, and the visitors scored the first six points to grab their first advantage of the game before a Pierce jumper forced the third knot at 42 with 11:02 remaining. Gordon slowly built its advantage to 68-58 with 2:56 left before Hudson canned a three at 1:59, and a Hudson steal and a sliding tip pass from Kaim led to a Pierce breakaway bucket at 1:43, but a Wheelock fast-break three-point attempt 34 seconds later that could have cut the deficit to two was off the mark, and the Fighting Scots hit four free throws in the final minute.
Wheelock continues a run of three home games in five days by hosting Anna Maria College on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.