Russ Thompson Scores 1,000th Point as No. 24 Stevens Stays Unbeaten in E8 Play
Stevens 80, Houghton 49
Senior guard Russ Thompson scored his 1,000th career point as the 24th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men’s basketball team improved to 14-1 with an 80-49 rout of Houghton College Saturday evening.
The Ducks have now won eight-straight games dating back to January 4 and sit atop the Empire 8 standings at 5-0. Ithaca College is 6-1 and in second place.
In this one, the Ducks raced out to a 10-3 lead behind six points from sophomore forward
Patrick Sabatino (Westfield, N.J.), but the Highlanders answered the Ducks’ first run with four-straight points of their own. However, from that point on, the Ducks dominated the rest of the first half, outscoring Houghton 34-11 over the final 15:13.
In the second half, it was much of the same as the lead swelled to 31 following a Thompson triple. Moments later, junior guard Andrew Meszaros split two defenders and passed out to Thompson on the left wing for another three-pointer, this one giving him points 998, 999 and 1,000 for his career. Head Coach Bobby Hurley called timeout after the make, giving the crowd a chance to honor the veteran guard.
Houghton (0-16) cut the Stevens lead to 21 midway through the half, but the Highlanders were unable to make any sort of run and the Ducks cruised to the win.
Fifteen different players made it into the points column for Stevens, with Thompson pouring in a game-high 15 in 22 minutes. Stevens shot 45.6 percent (26-for-57) from the field and 42.9 percent (9-for-21) from deep. The Ducks were 19-for-24 at the line and ended with a big 46-30 edge on the glass. Stevens had 17 assists and just 12 turnovers along with five blocks and eight steals.
Senior guard Chris Confair had 15 points to lead Houghton. The Highlanders shot 29.6 percent (16-for-54) from the field, 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) from three and 11-for-21 at the line.
Hartwick 73, Nazareth 51
The Hartwick men's basketball team led from start to finish and did not leave the game in doubt as it defeated visiting Nazareth 73-51 on Saturday night at Lambros Arena. The Hawks improve their record to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in the Empire 8. The Golden Flyers fall to 11-6 overall and 4-3 in the Empire 8.
Jared Suderley had a big night for the Hawks as he netted a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Suderley shot 8-of-13 from the floor and was a perfect 6-of-6 from behind the three-point arc. Mike Geisser contributed 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting and added four steals, three rebounds, and two assists. Anthony Keane chipped in 11 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
Brad Ford led Nazareth with 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. Mitch Ford scored 10 points and had four rebounds. The Hartwick defense held second-leading scorer Tyshun Stephens, who came into tonight averaging 16.5 points per game, to just two points on 1-of-8 shooting.
The Hawks came out fast as they raced out to an early 7-0 lead. An 8-1 Golden Flyers run would knot the game at eight-all at 15:47.
From that point on, Hartwick went on a tear as it scored 16 straight points to surge ahead 24-8 with 11:43 left in the half. Nazareth would try to chip at the lead and got to within 11 points less than a minute later, but a 9-2 Hawk run would increase the advantage to 18 points with 6:29 showing on the clock. The Hawks would maintain that lead at halftime as they went up 40-22. In the first half, Hartwick shot 58% in three-point shots compared to just 17% for Nazareth.
A dunk by Ford started the second half and closed the deficit to 16 points for the Golden Flyers. Seven straight Hartwick points pushed the lead back up to 22. The Hawks led by as much as 30 points in the second half as the defense pressured Nazareth into off-balance shots.
Utica 48, Elmira 41
Junior Conner Maisch went off for 25 points Saturday afternoon to lead the Utica College men's basketball team to a 85-74 victory over conference rival Elmira College.
The Pioneers opened up the contest with an early run and managed a 17-10 advantage over the first five minutes of play. The visitors would answer with a 10-0 run of its own to gain its first lead, 20-17, with 13:37 left in the first half. Over the next ten minutes, the squads would battle back and forth trading leads before the home team streaked a 19-7 swing to take a 45-33 cushion with, under three minutes left until the break. Elmira then used an 8-5 run to pull with seven of the lead, 48-41, headed into the locker room.
EC came out in the second half with a quick 12-5 strut to knot up the game, 53-53, at 14:40. The Soaring Eagles continued tough, keeping up with UC's potent offense for the next 10 minutes, before Maisch and company fired a 20-8 race to close out the match.
All five Utica starters recorded double digits as the Pioneers got back to their winning ways. Senior Jeff Ward tallied a double-double while posting 16 points and grabbing 10 boards. Junior Matt Baldwin tallied 16 points while sophomore guard Aaron Nevins and junior Chris Jeffers combined for 22 points.
Elmira's Derrick Vogel led the Soaring Eagles with 19 points while teammates Neil Randolph and Chris Cassisdy teamed up for 27 points.
Ithaca 74, Alfred 64
The Ithaca College men's basketball team (11-4, 6-1 Empire 8) defeated host Alfred (4-12, 1-6 Empire 8), 74-64, on Saturday afternoon.
Ithaca used a 13-2 streak to open the game, never looking back. The Saxons made it a one-possession game at 5:51, but the Bombers would take a 35-27 edge into the locker room at the half. At 16:27 of the second, Ithaca secured a double-digit lead. The Saxons cut within nine at 8:33, but eight unanswered powered the Bombers ahead, 68-51. Ithaca went on to claim its sixth Empire 8 victory with a 74-64 final.
Senior Travis Warech led all players with a double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds, his third of the season. Classmates Andrei Oztemel and Eli Maravich drained 16 and 13 points, respectively. Senior Sean Rossi dished out seven assists and pulled down six rebounds.
Ithaca shot a perfect 50 percent from the floor, while the Saxons converted on 41.8 percent of their shots. The Bombers also owned the rebound count, 34-27.