NEW ORLEANS -- Eric Gordon crouched near the 3-point line, dribbling between his legs, again and again, all but lulling Utahs Gordon Hayward into a trance. T.J. McDonald Jersey . The moment Hayward appeared sufficiently mesmerized, Gordon stepped back and made a 23-foot jumper, punctuating a game-changing performance against a Jazz squad that needed to win a lot worse than the Hornets did. Gordon scored 10 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and New Orleans won its first game under prospective new owner Tom Benson, 96-85 over Utah on Friday night. "I just love those situations in the fourth quarter," Gordon said. "The second half is the toughest part of the game. ... We play hard defensively and keep the game close and I try to take over those games when its late in the fourth quarter." Chris Kaman added 19 points as the Hornets won for the third time in four games while delivering a critical loss to the Jazz, who entered the night 1 1/2 games out of the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. Hours earlier, Benson, the longtime owner of the NFLs Saints, agreed to buy the Hornets from the NBA, virtually assuring the clubs long-term presence in New Orleans. Then Gordon returned from a two-game absence caused by back soreness and delivered a crowd-pleasing performance as the Hornets won their second straight. "We want to give our fans something to be excited about going into the summer," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. Paul Millsap scored 27 points for Utah, while Al Jefferson had 19. Derrick Favors added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz. Greivis Vasquez and Al-Farouq Aminu each scored 11 points for the Hornets, who shot 55 per cent (38 of 69). Utah shot 45.2 per cent (33 of 73) and went only 2 of 11 from 3-point range, but still led 82-81 after Jamaal Tinsleys floater in the lane in the middle of the fourth quarter. New Orleans then stormed ahead for good when Jason Smiths jumper started a 13-0 run. Soon after, Gordon took over -- by design -- as the Hornets drew as many defenders away from Gordon as they could to set him up in isolation with his primary defender. "Coach said, Get away. Go flat. We were just like, OK. Hes that pivotal player where you can give it to him and (Williams) doesnt need a play run for him," Smith said. "Thats a rarity in this league. A lot of guys say they go 1-on-1, but he can truly go 1-on-1." Gordon scored the last seven points of the run on a driving layup through a crowd, a 3-pointer and his step-back jumper over Hayward. "We just couldnt stop Eric tonight," Hayward said. "We made him take some difficult shots and he was able to knock them down. Hes a tough player to guard." The run gave New Orleans a 94-82 lead with 2:18 to go, and Utah could not recover. "We had opportunities to win the ball game and get out of here," Jazz coach Ty Corbin said. "We told them at halftime, You cant let this team hang around. They get close at the end and they have guys that are capable of making shots, and thats what happened." The Hornets led most of the third quarter, when Kaman scored 10 of his points on an array of layups and jump shots as deep as 14 feet. But the gap remained single digits and Utah briefly tied it at 68 on Millsaps fast-break layup. The Hornets scored the next five points on Vasquezs jumper and Landrys three-point play, then Favours threw down a driving dunk to trim New Orleans lead to 73-70 heading into the final period. Neither team led by more than seven points in a first half that included nine lead changes and nine ties. Millsap had 14 points in the first quarter. Gordon, returning after a two-game absence because of back soreness, scored 11 in the first half, which ended in a 47-all tie. NOTES: Fans in the New Orleans Arena clapped when Hornets radio announcer Sean Kelley mentioned the purchase of the club by Benson during his pregame show, which is played over the arenas public address system. ... Smith was called for a technical foul for arguing in the fourth quarter, although Smith later said he was in fact yelling at one of his teammates for being out of position. Williams was called for another for arguing minutes later, and was in fact yelling at an official. ... Utah fell to 10-22 on the road. ... Favours now has 10 double-doubles. ... The Hornets won two of three games against Utah this season. Jared Cook Jersey . -- Keegan Iverson scored the eventual winner as the Portland Winterhawks extended their win streak to 18 games by doubling up the visiting Kamloops Blazers 4-2 on Friday in Western Hockey League action. Lance Kendricks Jersey . -- Champions Tour player Hal Sutton had a mild heart attack after withdrawing during the first round of the ACE Group Classic.GATINEAU, Que. - Gatineaus line of Martin Reway, Simon Tardif-Richard and Marc-Olivier Brouillard combined for six goals and 12 points as the Olympiques crushed the visiting Saint John Sea Dogs 8-4 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play. Reway led all scorers with two goals and three assists, Tardif-Richard registered two goals and two assists while Brouillard scored twice and set up one more. Alex Dostie and Emile Poirier each had a goal and an assist for the Olympiques (18-8-0), who have won four straight contests, while defenceman Alexandre Carrier recorded three assists. Matthew Highmore, Michael Abbott, Mackenzie Brown and Stephen Anderson scored for the Sea Dogs (6-17-2), who are winless in six games. Gatineaus Robert Steeves made 19 saves. Saint Johns Antoine Landry allowed eight goals on 36 shots. The Olympiques went 3 for 4 on the power play while the Sea Dogs scored twice on five chances with the man advantage. --- DRAKKAR 4 FOREURS 2 BAIE-COMEAU, Que. -- Simon Lemieux stopped 30 shots and the Drakkar scored three times in the second period en route to beating Val-dOr. Valentin Zykov and Denis Gorbunov each had a goal and an assist for Baie-Comeau (16-5-4) while Charles Poulin and Alexis Vanier scored the others. Randy Gazzola and Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored for the Foreurs (15-10-0). Val-dOrs Francois Tremblay turned aside 20-of-24 shots in a losing effort. --- REMPARTS 3 SAGUENEENS 2 CHICOUTIMI, Que. -- Quebec used its power play to produce all of its offence against the Sagueneens. Ryan Culkin, Anthony Duclair and Nick Sorensen scored for the Remparts (13-8-5), who finished the night 3-for-4 on the power play. William Gignac and Laurent Dauphin had a goal apiece for Chicoutimi (12-14-0), who trailed 3-0 after 40 minutes. Quebecs Callum Booth made 34 saves for the win while Julio Billia stopped 23 shots for the Sagueneens. --- HUSKIES 3 PHOENIX 0 SHERBROOKE, Que. -- Jason Fuchs goal 1:10 into the game was all that was needed as Rouyn-Noranda blanked the Phoenix. Alexandre Belanger stopped 27 shots for the Huskies (13-9-2) and Jean-Sebastien Dea and Allan Caron added goals in the third period. Sherborookes (10-13-2) line of Simon Desbiens, Chase Harwell and Jean-Christophee Laflamme combined to go minus-6. Brian Quick Jersey. Francis Desrosiers turned back 37-of-40 shots for the Phoenix. --- MOOSEHEADS 6 TITAN 3 BATHURST, N.B. -- Jonathan Drouin scored once and set up three more as Halifax doubled up the Titan for its seventh win in a row. Nikolaj Ehlers and Brent Andrews each had a pair of goals for the Mooseheads (19-8-0) and Darcy Ashley added a goal and two assists. Adam Stevens, Adam Chapman and Francois Godin scored for Acadie-Bathurst (10-13-2), which had its three-game win streak halted. Kevin Darveau made 29 saves for Halifax. Jacob Brennan kicked out 2f-33 shots for the Titan. --- SCREAMING EAGLES 5 VOLTIGEURS 4 (OT) SYDNEY, N.S. -- The Screaming Eagles scored four times on the power play, including Julien Pelletiers winner 2:46 into overtime. Charles-Eric Legare, Maxim Lazarev, Justin Hache and Cameron Darcy also scored for Cape Breton (12-10-0) while Pelletier tacked on two assists for a three-point outing. Frederic Aube, Joey Ratelle, Cameron Askew and Jerome Verrier scored for Drummondville (13-10-2), which is on a five-game skid, and Matthew Boudens had three assists. Alex Bureau made 18 saves for the Screaming Eagles, and Louis-Philip Guindon stopped 27 shots for the Voltigeurs. --- ISLANDERS 3 WILDCATS 2 (SO) MONCTON, N.B. -- Daniel Sprong scored the shootout winner as Charlottetown edged the Wildcats. Alex Cortese scored in the third period for the Islanders (13-9-3) to force overtime and assisted on Ryan Graves goal in the first period. Moncton (11-15-2) got goals from Jacob Sweeney and Lucas Batt. Eric Brassard made 37 saves for Charlottetown while Alex Dubeau turned away 30 shots in defeat. --- ARMADA 6 CATARACTES 3 BOISBRIAND, Que. -- Christopher Clapperton and Danick Martel both scored twice and Nikita Jevpalovs assisted on all of them as the Armada handed Shawinigan its fourth loss in a row. Frederic Bergeron and Nathanael Halbert also scored for Blaiinville-Boisbiand (19-3-2) and Marc-Olivier Roy chipped in with three assists. Simon Boudreau, Frank Schumacher and Kris Hodge responded for the Cataractes (3-19-2). Samuel Montembeault made 29 saves for the Armada while Marvin Cupper allowed six goals on 27 shots for Shawinigan. ' ' '
f-33 shots for the Titan. --- SCREAMING EAGLES 5 VOLTIGEURS 4 (OT) SYDNEY, N.S. -- The Screaming Eagles scored four times on the power play, including Julien Pelletiers winner 2:46 into overtime. Charles-Eric Legare, Maxim Lazarev, Justin Hache and Cameron Darcy also scored for Cape Breton (12-10-0) while Pelletier tacked on two assists for a three-point outing. Frederic Aube, Joey Ratelle, Cameron Askew and Jerome Verrier scored for Drummondville (13-10-2), which is on a five-game skid, and Matthew Boudens had three assists. Alex Bureau made 18 saves for the Screaming Eagles, and Louis-Philip Guindon stopped 27 shots for the Voltigeurs. --- ISLANDERS 3 WILDCATS 2 (SO) MONCTON, N.B. -- Daniel Sprong scored the shootout winner as Charlottetown edged the Wildcats. Alex Cortese scored in the third period for the Islanders (13-9-3) to force overtime and assisted on Ryan Graves goal in the first period. Moncton (11-15-2) got goals from Jacob Sweeney and Lucas Batt. Eric Brassard made 37 saves for Charlottetown while Alex Dubeau turned away 30 shots in defeat. --- ARMADA 6 CATARACTES 3 BOISBRIAND, Que. -- Christopher Clapperton and Danick Martel both scored twice and Nikita Jevpalovs assisted on all of them as the Armada handed Shawinigan its fourth loss in a row. Frederic Bergeron and Nathanael Halbert also scored for Blaiinville-Boisbiand (19-3-2) and Marc-Olivier Roy chipped in with three assists. Simon Boudreau, Frank Schumacher and Kris Hodge responded for the Cataractes (3-19-2). Samuel Montembeault made 29 saves for the Armada while Marvin Cupper allowed six goals on 27 shots for Shawinigan. ' ' '