Ryder's Double-Double Leads Hartwick Past Brooklyn
PURCHASE, NY- Hartwick forward Chris Ryder (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) had his first double-double of the season as the visiting Hawks defeated Brooklyn College 60-54 on Friday night at the Manhattanville Castle Classic.
Ryder had 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Hawks. Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) had 12 points and six rebounds. Mark Blazek (Erie, PA/Erie Cathedral Prep) chipped in 11 points and dished out five assists. Mike Geisser (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) contributed 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting off the bench including 3-for-5 from beyond the three-point arc.
Kavon Baker led Brooklyn with 19 points and also had four rebounds and five steals. Tyshawn Russell had 10 points and five rebounds. Amil John nearly had a triple double for the Bulldogs with eight points, seven rebounds, and seven assists
The Hawks scored the opening points of the game on a layup by Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) but Brooklyn would sprint out to an early 8-4 lead following a three by Bakor. An 8-0 spurt by the Hawks would put them up by four points at the 14:51 mark of the first half. Hartwick would push its lead to as much as 10 points with 7:52 remaining in the half and would lead 35-29 at halftime.
'Wick would maintain its lead in the early portion of the second half but Brooklyn would come back as a 12-6 run would tie the game at 45 all with 7:16 remaining to play. A 15-6 Hartwick run, capped by nine consecutive points by Geisser, would do the Bulldogs in as Ryder would sink four free throws in the final seconds to secure the game for the Hawks.
"We played pretty well as a whole," noted head coach Todd McGuiness. "Brooklyn had some very quick guards and played tough defense against us. We had several chances to break the game open but didn't capitalize. Geisser made some key plays down the stretch for us. He scored eight straight points in a minute and a half to help us pull away."
As a team, the Hawks shot 42.9% from the floor and the same in three-point shots. The Bulldogs were nearly comparable as they shot 42.3% from the floor.