NEW LONDON, N.H. – February 26, 2009 – The Colby-Sawyer Chargers advanced to the TCCC Championship game after a convincing 72-54, victory over Gordon, Thursday night in front of a packed Hogan Sports Center. As a team, the Chargers shot 54% from the field and were led by junior Jon Chaloux (Barre, Vt.) and his 23 points.
Colby-Sawyer never trailed in the game, as they jumped on top of the Fighting Scots early as Chaloux scored the first six points of the game. The Chargers built a 19-7 lead, but Gordon tried to muster a comeback. The Fighting Scots cut the lead to 19-12 with an Austin Bentson (Branchville, N.J.) free throw but that was as close as they would get, as the Chargers shot a cool 53.6% from the field. Colby-Sawyer went on a 6-0 run to close the half with a 33-17 lead.
Chaloux led all players with 12 points in the half, while Gordon junior Brady Bajema (Whitinsville, Mass.) scored seven points to try and keep his team in it. Senior Duncan Szeliga (Newmarket, N.H.) scored six of his 11 points in the half to move into 10th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,286 career points.
The Fighting Scots came out of the second half with all the momentum as they started on an 11-4 run, behind the play of Bajema. With Gordon making a run, senior co-captain Matt Lemieux (Manchester, N.H.) stepped up his play and tallied off eight straight points to bump the lead back up to 16, at 46-30. Sensing a shot at the title in his final year, Lemieux played exceptionally well scoring 16 of his 18 points in the half to go along with a game-high seven assists.
Despite the play of Bajema, Gordon could not break down the Chargers defense. Colby-Sawyer was able hold the Fighting Scots leading scorer Aaron Trigg (Overland Park, Kan.) to only five points on 2-15 shooting.
Chaloux continued his hot shooting as he scored 11 more points in the second stanza, giving him 23 points for the game, on 8-13 from the floor and 5-6 from the charity stripe.
Colby-Sawyer held an advantage on the glass as well, outrebounding the Scots 34-24. Junior Chrispatrick Cox (Barre, Vt.) registered a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with nine points and three steals.
Gordon's Bajema finished with a game-high 24 points, including 4-6 from the three-point line. Benston finished with four points and five rebounds, while Benjamin Gaskill (Columbus, Ohio) led the team with seven boards.
The win marked the 20th of the season for the Chargers, giving Coach Bill Foti his eighth career 20 win season, and 320th win overall.
The Chargers will take on the Nor'easters at 7:00 p.m., Saturday night at the Campus Center in Biddeford, Maine for the 2008-09 TCCC Championship.
