Hartwick Holds On to Defeat Stevens
HOBOKEN, NJ- Three Hawks scored in double figures as the men's basketball team hung on for a tough 68-66 victory over Empire 8 rival Stevens on Tuesday night at Canavan Arena. The win gives Hartwick a record of 16-2 and 5-2 in the Empire 8. Stevens is now 13-4 and also 5-2 in the Empire 8.
Hartwick is in a four-way tie for first place. Along with Stevens, Nazareth and Ithaca both have 5-2 conference records.
Mark Blazek (Erie, PA/Erie Cathedral Prep) led ‘Wick with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) tied his career high with 18 points while shooting 7-of-9 from the field. He also had six rebounds. Jared Suderley (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) contributed 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. He also had two assists and two steals.
Mike Cutri led the Ducks with 25 points and had eight rebounds. Sheldon Jones had 14 points and Simon Smith chipped in 10points had 12 boards.
In the first half, there were eight lead changes and the score was tied five times. The Ducks opened the game scoring the first two baskets but Hartwick would come back and take the lead and go up by seven, 20-13, following two Aaron Laing (Laurens, NY/Laurens) free throws. An 8-0 Stevens run put the Ducks up 21-20 at 6:23 but Suderley's jumper and free throw put the Hawks back on top 23-21. Twice more the score would be tied and Blazek's three-pointer with 36 ticks left again gave Hartwick a one point lead. The Ducks' Sheldon Jones drove to the basket with just two seconds left till halftime and converted the layup while being fouled by Travis Godley (Putnam, CT/Putnam Science Academy). Jones would make the free throw and Stevens would hold a 34-32 advantage at halftime.
The opening minutes of the second half saw the two teams exchange baskets but Stevens would eventually break away and go on an 11-2 run which would give them their biggest lead of the game of 47-39 at 16:26. Hartwick would respond with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 49 all at 13:12. Twice more would the game be tied with the second time coming after Keane made his second free throw with 7:49 left to play. Keane would go on to score the next six Hawks' points to increase the Hartwick lead to 62-56.
The Ducks would narrow the gap to one point with just under three minutes left in the game. It was still a one-point game with a little over two minutes left. Blazek's missed three-point attempt was put back in by Keane at 1:35 to give the Hawks a three-point advantage. Two free throws by Keane put Hartwick up by five at 1:10. Cutri's three-pointer with under a minute to play cut the Hartwick lead to two.
After a missed Suderley jumper and rebound by Cutri, the Ducks called a timeout with 13 seconds left on the clock. After inbounding the ball, Stevens' Russ Thompson lobbed a three with time expiring that clanged off the back of the rim and the Hawks would hold on for the victory.
"Anthony did a great job of attacking and finishing around the rim," remarked head coach Todd McGuinness. "Mark made some tough plays and shots. Jared did a great job of rebounding. It's a great win for us especially on the road against a good team."
Hartwick made 44.8% (26-of-58) of their shots compared to Stevens' 40.6% (36-of-64). The Hawks were nearly perfect from the foul line as they made nearly 85% (11-of-13) of their free throws. The Ducks shot 69.2% (9-of-13) from the charity stripe. The Hawks outscored the Ducks 15-5 in second chance points.