11/16/2007 - WENHAM, MA – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men’s Basketball team suffered a 79-58 loss at the hands of Gordon on Friday night in the opening game of the Gordon Tip-Off Tournament. Senior captain Derek Charlton (Yonkers, NY) was one of three Dolphins to record double figures, scoring 12 points and grabbing a team high 14 rebounds.

Gordon jumped out to a 2-0 lead at 19:57 on a lay-up from Michael Schnackenber. The two teams would go back and forth until Charlton made consecutive shots to give the Mount 

Derek Charlton recorded a double-double in the season opener on Friday.

an 11-6 advantage with 14:49 remaining in the first half. The five point margin, which the Dolphins held on two occasions, would be their biggest lead of the half.

Gordon would pull ahead for good in the half with 7:20 to play on a lay-up from Ben Gaskill. From that point, the Fighting Scots would close the half scoring 15 of the final 24 points to take a 37-30 advantage into the halftime intermission.

Aaron Trigg led all scorers in the first half with 12 points, with Gaskill following with eight. The Fighting Scots shot a blistering 50.0 percent from the field in the period (13-26).

Mount Saint Vincent had seven players score in the first period, led by Joe Cooke’s (Mount Vernon, NY) eight points. Cooke connected on 4-8 from the field in the first 20:00. Charlton chipped in with six points in the half on 3-9 shooting. He also ripped a team high six rebounds in the frame. The Dolphins shot 42.4 percent from the field as a team (14-33), including 40 percent (2-5) from three point range.

The Dolphins started the second half in impressive fashion and stormed to a 47-40 lead six minutes into the frame. Gordon opened the half with a lay-up from Jon Marstaller to take a nine point advantage, the Fighting Scots largest lead of the game to that point.

Mount Saint Vincent then scored six straight points before a free throw from Gordon’s Brady Bajema made the score 40-36 in favor of the Scots. The Dolphins then ran off 11 straight points, capped off by a lay-up from Chris Rocco (Saugerties, NY) to make the score 47-40.

Following the Mount’s spurt to begin the half, the Fighting Scots took control of the contest and outscored the Dolphins 38-14 to close the game. The Mount’s last point was scored at 2:59 on a free throw from Rocco and the team’s final field goal came at the 4:58 on a jumper from Cooke to cut the Gordon lead to 62-57. That five point margin would be as close as the Dolphins would get the rest of the night.

Rocco and Cooke led the team with 13 points each and were followed by Charlton’s 12. Rocco added a team high three blocks and also swiped three steals in the game. Kevin Garlan (Jackson Heights, NY) posted eight points in the contest, while Lester Owens (Manalapan, NJ) contributed six. Owens was the team leader in assists with seven on the night.

Gordon put four players in double figures on Friday, with Trigg, Justin Kaufman, and Bajema all scoring 16. Marstaller scored 14 in the contest and led the team with eight rebounds.

For the game, the Dolphins shot 35.9 percent from the field (23-64) and 27.3 percent from three point range (3-11). Mount Saint Vincent converted 10 of its 17 free throws on the night (58.8).

At 0-1 on the season, Mount Saint Vincent will take on the winner of the Alfred/Westfield St. game that tips later tonight. Game time on Saturday is set for 6:00 p.m.