DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- When Ryan Ridder left Daytona State to take the Bethune-Cookman job, Mark Gordon had an idea that he, too, would be crossing the Nova Road divide and joining his former junior college coach.
 
"I had that in mind," Gordon admitted after he scored 17 points in Bethune-Cookman's 104-44 home opening win over Trinity Baptist College Tuesday. "But after my sophomore year, it was taking me a minute to make the decision… I had options."
 
Of course he did. Guys who average 33 points in high school, earn state player of the year status and then elevate their games in junior college are in high demand these days. Gordon's minute went by relatively fast and now he's poised to play a key role in the Wildcats' run to a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.
 
Gone from last year's MEAC Regular Season championship team is Brandon Tabb, now overseas in Denmark playing for something called Horsens IC of the Basketligaen after leading the Wildcats in scoring for two season and garnering MEAC Player Of The Year honors.
 
Ridder doesn't expect Gordon to replace Tabb's 18.9 scoring clip by himself, but to lead the effort. Gordon's already the team's second-leader scorer at 9.7 per game.
 
"We know it isn't going to be one person," Ridder said. "But Mark's a guy who can come in and score and bunches for us. I knew when I recruited him that he could be a great player "
 
Gordon had 12 points on 5-7 shooting in the first half as Bethune-Cookman waltzed to a 53-14 halftime lead. He made his final two shots as the bench emptied, everyone scored and no one played more than 20 minutes.
 
The Mt. Dora Christian product's game isn't exactly like Tabb's either. He penetrates more and he claims to be more pass-oriented (Yeah, right), but is just as confident of his shot.
 
"I'm supposed to shoot like he [Tabb] did, and I saw him play and knock down some big, tough shots," Gordon said. "Some of those he put up, I don't if I would take those, but I can hit the tough ones."     
 
Shawntrez Davis, now the sage senior veteran, sees what Gordon can bring to the program.
 
"If he gets to feeling it, a lot of shots are going to fall," Davis said of Gordon. "He's a great teammate."
 
With 15 stitches in his mouth after leaving Saturday's Marquette game in just two minutes, Davis registered 18 points in 17 minutes as the Wildcats recovered from a tough opening road swing against storied powers DePaul and Marquette.
 
"It felt good to be at home and to get our groove back," Davis said. "We didn't look at this game as us vs. Trinity Baptist, it was us vs. us because we have to get better."

Isaiah Bailey added 10 points as the Wildcats (1-2) posted their largest margin of victory in the Division I era, eclipsing the old mark of 56 set in 1996 in a 128-72 decision over Morris Brown.

Bethune-Cookman made its first six shots to jump out to an early 20-2 lead and never looked back. It was 53-14 at halftime. The biggest lead came on Cletrell Pope's jumper that made it 94-32 with 5:10 remaining.

All 14 Wildcats scored, with Soufiyane Diakite, Houston Smith and Pope each adding eight. Pope had 11 rebounds, followed by Diakite with 10. Malik Maitland's stat line included four assists and four steals.

Marquis Duncanson and Chandler Rivers each scored 11 to lead Trinity Baptist.

Bethune-Cookman hosts Johnson University Thursday at 7 p.m.