Keane’s Buzzer-Beater Gives Hartwick Win Over Bombers
ITHACA, NY- Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer as the visiting Hartwick men's basketball team came back from an eight-point deficit to defeat host Ithaca 78-75 on Saturday night. Hartwick is now 18-2 overall and 7-2 in the Empire 8. Ithaca falls to 8-12 and 5-4 in the Empire 8.
Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) led the Hawks with 19 points. He also had 14 rebounds. Mike Geisser (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) bested his career-high from last night with 19 points on seven-for-nine shooting. He went five-for-five from beyond the three-point arc. Keane scored 16 points while also dishing out five assists. Andres Carpio (Beacon, NY/Lock Haven) scored 11 points. Chris Ryder (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) secured a season-high 16 rebounds while also chipping in nine points.
Frank Mitchell led the Bombers with 22 points. Sean Rossi scored 17 points and had seven assists. Jordan Marcus and Tom Sweeney both had 10 points each.
Hartwick started the game on a 15-7 run seven minutes into the first half. The Bombers would respond with a 10-2 run of their own to take a one-point lead, 18-17, at 10:21. Geisser's three-pointer would put the Hawks back on top and after the Bombers tied the game, he hit another three to give the Hawks a 23-20 lead.
A Geisser jumper 16 seconds later gave Hartwick a five-point advantage. A 9-0 Bomber run would give Ithaca a 29-25 lead at 6:23. 'Wick again would tie the game with another Geisser three and then take the lead at 3:20. Hartwick would go into halftime with a 35-32 advantage.
The second half was a back and forth affair as there were seven lead changes and the score was tied 10 times. The Hawks came out in the second half scoring four straight points and to go up 39-32. Seven straight points from Ithaca, however, would give the hosts a one-point lead. The Bombers would twice have leads of eight points with the second time coming at 4:26 remaining and were poised to win the game.
Hartwick fought back as a 12-0 run gave them a four-point lead with a little over two minutes left to play. Ithaca would cut the lead to one following a free throw from Mitchell at 1:29. It was still a one-point Hartwick advantage with less than a minute to play when Suderley's two free throws increased the Hawk lead to three with 22 seconds left.
A trey from Ross tied the game at 75-all with less than five seconds remaining. Hartwick quickly brought the ball up court and Carpio dished the ball to Keane who released the ball just as the horn sounded and made the three to the delight of his Hartwick teammates.
The Hawks won the game despite being outshot by Ithaca, 36.4% to 34.8%. The Hawks led in rebounds, 54-42. Hartwick had the edge in points in the paint, 22-18, and second-chance points, 20-14.
"It was a great comeback in the last couple minutes capped off by an unbelievable shot by Keane," noted head coach Todd McGuinness. "Keane, Geisser, and Suderley stepped up and made huge plays in the second half. I'm really proud of the effort the guys gave."
The Hawks remain in a three-way tie for first in the Empire 8 with Stevens and Nazareth. Hartwick will return home next Friday to host Alfred at Lambros Arena at 8 p.m. The Hawks will be looking to avenge their January 7 loss to the Saxons that handed Hartwick its first defeat of the season.
Video of the winning shot can be found here (courtesy of YNN Sports): http://centralny.ynn.com/content/sports/571843/buzzer-beater-gives-hartwick-men-thrilling-victory-at-ithaca/