Hawks Defeat Stevens to Claim Empire 8 Regular Season Title
ONEONTA, NY - Five Hawks scored in double figures as the men's basketball team defeated Stevens 91-76 on Saturday night at Lambros Arena. The win gives Hartwick their first ever Empire 8 regular season title and the #1 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament. The Hawks will host the four-team tournament next Friday and Saturday.
The Hawks are 23-2 overall and 12-2 in the Empire 8. The team's 23 wins are tied for the most in program history and was last achieved in the 1987-88 season. Stevens falls to 19-6 overall and 10-4 in the Empire 8.
Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) had his fifth-straight 20-plus game as he scored 25 points to lead ‘Wick. He also grabbed seven rebounds. Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) was an assist and two rebounds short of a triple-double as he scored 16 points, pulled down eight rebounds, and dished out nine assists. He also had three steals.
Christian Laputka (Freeland, PA/Hazleton Area) came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points. Chris Ryder (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) contributed 13 points and seven rebounds. Mike Geisser (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) finished with 11 points.
"It's a great accomplishment to win the league outright and I'm really proud of my guys," said head coach Todd McGuinness who won his 50th game as head coach and moves past Paul Culpo for fifth in career wins. "Our three seniors, Mark, Chris, and Andres Carpio (Beacon, NY/Lock Haven) helped change our program and I'm really proud to have coached them."
The Ducks were lead by Simon Smith and Sheldon Jones who both score 22 points each. Smith added 13 rebounds. Russ Thompson had 14 points.
Geisser's three-pointer to start the game gave Hartwick the early three-point advantage but the Ducks would go on an 8-0 run to pull ahead 8-3 at 17:51. A 19-3 Hawks run covering the next five and a half minutes gave Hartwick a lead of 22-11 at 12:29. A 13-0 run put Hartwick on top by 22 with 5:47 left in the half. Stevens would cut into that lead as they only trailed by nine points, 40-31, with just under two and a half minutes left in the half. 'Wick would close out the half on a 9-2 run punctuated by Keane's dunk with time expiring.
The Hawks would maintain a double-digit lead to begin the second half of play but Stevens would quickly reduce that lead to just eight points as Jones scored all eight points in that run to make the score 57-49 Hawks. Suderley's layup at 12:55 put the Hawks up by 10 points, 61-51. Hartwick would hold steady throughout the rest of the half as neither they nor Stevens could gain any significant momentum.
The Ducks would twice reduce the Hawks' lead to nine points with the final time coming with 3:15 left in the game. Two free throws from Laputka along with layups from Ryder and Suderley pushed the Hawk lead to 15 points with 1:16 left in the game and Hartwick was on its way to the victory.
Hartwick shot 56.7% from the floor compared to Stevens' 45.7%. The Hawks shot 39.1% from beyond the three-point arc and Stevens was a paltry 17.4%. 'Wick led in rebounds 38-31.
The Ducks led in the paint 52-44 but the Hawks had a 24-15 advantage in points off turnovers and got a huge lift from their bench as they outscored the Stevens' bench 21-4.