MBB Minute - Ithaca, Hartwick and Stevens Post Wins Friday Night
Ithaca 90, St. John Fisher 87
The Ithaca College men’s basketball team (10-4, 5-1 Empire 8) held on to its late lead to defeat host St. John Fisher (9-8, 4-4 Empire 8), 90-87, on Friday night. The Bombers also defeated the Cardinals, 48-46, on Jan. 5.
Senior Travis Warech shot 9-for-12 for a game- and career-high 28 points. Junior Frank Mitchell added 17 and seniors Andrei Oztemel and Sean Rossi chipped in 14 and 13, respectively. Oztemel flirted with a double-double pulling down a team-best nine boards. Rossi made five assists.
The first half featured four ties and six lead changes. The game was tight through the opening nine minutes of action before the Bombers improved on a 20-19 edge with 10 unanswered, holding the Cardinals scoreless for over three and a half minutes. Fisher closed the half with an 11-2 run of its own to pull within one, 43-42.
Oztemel drained five points to tip-off the second stint as Ithaca claimed the lead indefinitely. With a 59-57 advantage at the 12-minute mark, Ithaca pieced together seven straight and went on to claim a 71-61 gap at 6:45. Despite a 12-point lead at 5:06, Ithaca allowed the Cardinals to creep within six at the two-minute warning. Rossi went 4-for-4 from the free throw line for an 81-74 lead at 1:23.
Fisher surged to pull within striking distance down the stretch, outscoring Ithaca 13-9 and holding the Bombers to just free throws until Warech dunked on a Mitchell assist. The dunk, with five ticks lingering in the game, sealed the victory for the Bombers.
Both squads shot better than 50 percent from the floor with the Bombers leading the category, 56.4 percent to 54.4 percent. Ithaca also owned the rebounding count, 32-27.
Hartwick 76, Houghton 47
The men's basketball team led for all but 35 seconds of the game as it defeated the visiting Houghton Highlanders 76-47 on Friday night at Lambros Arena. The win improves the Hawks' record to 9-6 while the Highlanders remain winless at 0-15.
Jared Suderley scored 18 points to lead the Hawks. He also added four rebounds.Mike Geisser had 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting with all three baskets coming on three-point shots.
Hartwick received significant contributions from its bench as it outscored Houghton 37-15. Matt Petruccione and Victor Angeline both scored nine points each and collectively shot 4-of-6 from behind the three-point arc. Mike Henson chipped in seven points in five minutes of game time.
The Highlanders were led by Chris Confair who scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Tyler McQuaid added 11 points off the bench.
Stevens 74, Nazareth 64
The 24th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team overcame a shaky offensive first half, defeating Empire 8 rival Nazareth College 74-64 Friday night in the Canavan Arena in front of a crowd of more than 500 spectators.
Trailing 24-23 after one half of play, the Ducks outscored the Golden Flyers 51-40 over the final 20 minutes to improve to 13-1 overall and 5-0 in the Empire 8. Senior guards Russ Thompson and Sheldon Jones scored 21 points apiece to pace the scoring, while sophomore forward Kenny Gan grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and rejected three shots.
Both teams struggled mightily from the field in the first half as the Ducks were 10-for-33 (30.3 percent) and Naz was 10-for-28 (35.7 percent). Neither team was able to take any large advantage with the Ducks leading by no more than four points and Nazareth (11-5, 5-2 Empire 8) leading by no more than three as the first period saw four ties and six lead changes.
The Ducks shot 19-for-28 (67.9 percent) in the second half and 47.5 percent for the game. Their defense held Naz to 39.3 percent from the field (22-for-56) and 8-for-23 from long range. Nazareth went 12-for-14 from the line, while Stevens was 11-for-18, but the Ducks held a 41-31 margin on the glass and had seven steals as a team.
Thompson finished with 21 points, three rebounds and two assists, with Jones pouring in 21 and corralling five boards. Gan had eight points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and steal, with Sabatino scoring 16 points, notching three rebounds and one blocked shot. Matt Skrelja finished with six points, five assists, five rebounds and a game-high four steals.
Brad Ford had 17 points, 10 rebounds and three steals to lead Nazareth, while Tyshun Stephens added 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.