Gordon in the News: last updated 01/11/2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 10, 2008
MEDIA CONTACT:
Patrick Byrne
Office of Sports Information
978.867.4400
WENHAM, MA- January 10, 2008 - Gordon College head coach Mike Schauer earned his 100th victory with the Fighting Scots as his squad downed Regis College, 81-60, in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) play tonight in the Bennett Center on the campus of Gordon College. In victory, Scots senior forward Jon Marstaller (Naples, Maine) tallied 12 points to move to seventh on the all-time scoring list at Gordon College.
Coach Schauer earned the 117th victory of his career and his 100th with the Fighting Scots. He becomes just the second men's basketball coach in school history to earn his 100th win with the program and in just his sixth season he has reached the milestone faster than all but one coach in any sport at Gordon College. Schauer's Fighting Scots gave him the 100th win in just his 145th contest at the school. Hal Murdoch, the Fighting Scots head coach from 1954-1975 tabbed his 100th in his eighth season.
Marstaller netted seven second half points, and 12 on the night as he increased his career total to 1,308 points to pass Nathan Uebelhoer's ('92) 1,305 points and move into seventh on the all-time scoring list at GC.
The Fighting Scots (9-2, 1-0) were led by senior guard Justin Kaufman's (Redding, Conn.) season-best 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor as the Scots defeated the feisty Pride (6-7, 0-1) in each side's conference opener.
In the first half, each side was determined to run its offense and the contest began with a 6-6 tie through the opening five minutes of play. The Scots took a four-point lead, 10-6, following consecutive unassisted lay-ups from Kaufman as he drove right through the Pride defense for the easy buckets. With 8:41 to play, the Pride would cut the lead to one, 16-15, as freshman guard Herb Lozano (Boston, Mass.) hit a jumper.
GC freshman forward Greg Walker (Uxbridge, Mass.) and sophomore guard Aaron Trigg (Overland Park, Kans.) took it upon themselves to give the Scots a 25-15 advantage as Walker hit a pair of inside jumpers and Trigg added a runner and a three to cap the 9-0 run with 6:05 to play in the first half. With 3:31 showing on the clock, Regis freshman guard Phil Alibrandi (York, Maine) converted a three-point play to cut the deficit to nine as the Scots held a 30-21 lead. Alibrandi and Kaufman would match each other point-for-point over the final minute of the half until Kaufman was fouled as time expired; Kaufman sunk both his free-throws and the teams went to the locker rooms with the Scots up 38-27.
At the break, Kaufman and Alibrandi each had 11 points for their respective sides while Kaufman was 5-for-5 from the line and dished out four assists.
In the second half, the Pride hung around and the lead remained 11, 47-36, after an Alibrandi lay-in with 13:37 to play in the contest. Kaufman then retaliated with a 12 foot jumper and Scots sophomore guard Brady Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) drained a pair of free throws to make it a 51-36 contest with 12:45 to play.
With the home team up 13, 59-46, Pride freshman center Kandley Val (Boston, Mass.) hit an lay-up and Alibrandi added a runner in the lane of his own to cut the lead to single digits, 59-50, with 6:19 to go. Following a pair of free-throws from Bajema, Lozano kept the Pride within nine, 61-52, with a jumper but that would be as close as the visitors would come. The Scots would close out the game on a 20-8 run to put the Pride away.
Kaufman notched a game-high 24 points for GC while adding seven assists and three boards. Marstaller tallied 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds while Trigg added 15 points to go along with two blocks and six rebounds; Bajema chipped in 17 points as he hit all eight of his free-throws.
Regis was led by Alibrandi's double-double as he gained 21 points and ten caroms while Lozano netted 11 points.
In the win, the Scots hit four three-pointers to extend their streak of hitting at least one trey in a game to 196 consecutive contests.
With the home victory in conference play the Fighting Scots extend their home-win streak within the league to 19 games but will be tested by defending TCCC Tournament Champion Wentworth Inst. of Technology as the Leopards visit the Fighting Scots on Saturday (Jan. 12) at 3:00 p.m. in the Bennett Center.
