Scots pull away to defeat Seahawks in Newport

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University men's basketball won the rebounding battle (37 to 35) against the nation's No. 1 ranked team in rebound margin, Gordon College at +12.0 rebounds per game, but the Scots won the scoring battle, 67-50, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Rodgers Recreation Center.

Gordon wins its third straight to climb to .500 in league play (8-8 CCC) while just one game under overall, 11-12. Salve Regina (5-18; 2-14 CCC) slips to the bottom of the league with its sixth straight loss. The Seahawks, who defeated the Scots last month in Wenham, Mass., seek first home win of 2015 in final home game of season on Tuesday against Western New England.

Jaren Yang (San Francisco, Calif.) got the scoring started with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Hans Miersma (Whitinsville, Mass.) converted an old-fashioned three-point play for a 6-0 lead before Nicholas Bates (Danvers, Mass.) and Jason Dempsey (Wallingford, Conn.) exchanged layups. Miersma and Dempsey added baskets, after a Bryce Boggs' (Hyde Park, Mass.) 3-pointer, for a 12-5 Gordon advantage.

Salve Regina enjoyed a 12-4 run with the help of two 3-pointers from senior Eric MacKinnon (South Easton, Mass.) to take a one-point lead, 17-16, at 7:41. Dylan Marshall (Purcellville, Va.) started an 11-4 run for the visitors with his first 3-pointer. Seahawk junior guard Chris O'Keefe (Lexington, Mass.) cut a six-point deficit (29-23) in half with his 3-pointer just before the end of the half.

While Bates opened the second half with a pair of layups in the first two minutes, Gordon built an eight-point cushion, 44-36, by the 10-minute mark on the strength of three Miersma layups. Adam Quinlan (E. Walpole, Mass.) hit a jumper to start a 7-0 run for the Seahawks. After O'Keefe sank a pair of free throws at 8:19 to draw the hosts within one (44-43), Salve Regina managed just three field goals the rest of the way, all from junior forward Brenden Fowler (No. Attleboro, Mass.).

Miersma led all players with 22 points on 9-of-11 from the floor and four free throws. The Scots, who shot over 52 percent in the second half, closed the game with a 23-7 run.

Yang finished with 16 points including perfection from the charity stripe, six for six. Dempsey's 10 points included a three-point play following a dunk.

Boggs and Bates topped Salve Regina's scoring chart with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Miersma, Bates, and Barrett Hanlon (Hopkinton, Mass.) all finished with seven rebounds apiece. Salve Regina had a five-rebound advantage on the offensive glass, 16-11.

Gordon will host its final home game of the season on Tuesday when Roger Williams University visits Wenham.