Hawks Get First Conference Win; Elmira, Nazareth and Stevens also Win
Hartwick 75, Alfred 68
Mike Geisser scored a career-high 23 points to lead all scorers as the men’s basketball team secured its first Empire 8 Conference win with a 75-68 triumph over Alfred on Saturday afternoon at Lambros Arena.
Geisser shot 7-of-12 from the field off the bench and hit 6-of-9 of his three-point shots. He also added four rebounds. Kyle Bradley contributed 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and had nine rebounds, five assists, and two blocks. Anthony Keane chipped in 11 points. Jared Suderley added eight points and seven rebounds.
Thomas Tsatsis led Alfred with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Sean Curran scored 14 points and added three rebounds and three assists. Brett Dennis chipped in 13 points.
Alfred came out in the second half on fire as it scored seven straight points to knot the game at 33-all at 18:29. The next four minutes featured two ties and nine lead changes. Following a layup and three-pointer from Curran, the Saxons moved ahead 51-46 at 13:33.
A 24-8 Hartwick run spanning nearly 10 minutes of game time, with half of those points coming from four three-point field goals from Geisser, moved ’Wick out in front 73-59 with 3:28 left on the clock and gave the Hawks their biggest lead of the game. Alfred would chip away at that lead and cut it in half to just seven with 13 seconds remaining. Two free throws from Suderley put the Hawks on top by nine with eight seconds left as Hartwick came away with the victory.
Elmira 63, Houghton 55
Chris Cassidy '14 had another solid game finishing with his third double-double of the season, while
Josh Keys '14 chipped in with 18 points off the bench to lead the Men's Basketball team to a 63-55 victory on the road at Houghton Saturday afternoon. The win improves the Soaring Eagles to 2-12, while the loss drops the Highlanders to 0-14.
After trailing 24-21 at intermission Elmira and Houghton tied the contest three different times in the opening 8:30 of play in the second half. The Soaring Eagles opened up a seven point lead at 45-38 with 8:35 remaining after a
Cassidy jumper. Over the next two minutes the Highlanders went on an 8-0 spurt to regain a 46-45 lead with 6:18 to play.
The Purple and Gold once again showed their mental toughness as they retorted with a 10-1 run to take control of the contest, leading by eight at 55-47, with just 2:43 left in the contest.
Brian McDonald '15 was pivotal scoring seven points during the spurt for EC.
Elmira shot 6-for-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch as the teams traded points with EC holding on for the 63-55 win.
Cassidy paced Elmira with 23 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and one steal in 29 minutes while shooting 9-for-15 from the field.
Keys added 18 points, while shooting 4-for-7 from the field, 3-for-6 from downtown, and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.
Derrick Vogel '14 added five points and five assists while
McDonald scored all seven of his points during the key Soaring Eagle run to go along with six rebounds.
Chris Confair (14), Mark O'Brien (12), and Seth Shay (11) led the Highlanders scoring double figures in points.
Elmira outrebounded Houghton 37-30, while the Highlanders had 12 turnovers compared to EC giving its opponents the ball 18 times. Elmira shot 46 percent from the field, while Houghton converted just 37 percent of its shots. The hosts held large advantages in points off turnovers (25-11) and points in the paint (30-18), while the visitors had a huge 28-4 bench points edge.
Nazareth 89, Utica 81
Nazareth used a 16-2 scoring run midway through the second half to take the lead for good on its way to an 89-81 victory over visiting Utica in a men's Empire 8 basketball game on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Flyers had six players tally at least eight points to pull away from the Pioneers.
Junior
Brad Ford amassed 11 points during Nazareth's decisive 16-2 scoring run which broke a 48-48 tie. Ford ignited the run with a layup, which was followed by a three-point basket by junior
Jack Giles. Following two free throws by senior
Tyshun Stephens, Ford demonstrated his all-around scoring ability as he connected on a layup, three-point shot, two free throws, and a jumper. The run put Nazareth ahead 64-50 with just under 11 minutes to play in regulation.
Following the scoring run, Utica closed to within three points, 64-61 after a basket by Aaron Nevins with 7:32 to play in the second period. Stephens, however, responded for Nazareth on the Golden Flyers' next possession with a three-point basket. Nazareth made nine free throw attempts in the final 1:18 to secure the victory.
The Pioneers seized the lead to open the second half following a layup by Nevins. Junior
Scott Hayford answered with a three-point basket, which was followed by a two-point jumper by Stephens to reclaim the Golden Flyers' lead. Utica managed to tie the game twice after Stephens' shot, but the Pioneers were unable to take another lead.
Ford shot over 64 percent (9-14) from the field to amass his 27 points. Stephens followed with 22 points. Hayford and Mills recorded 13 points and 11 points, respectively, while Giles and Waldbillig added eight points apiece for Nazareth's offensive attack. The Golden Flyers finished with 10 three-point baskets and held Utica to six buckets from beyond the arc. Stephens recorded a game-high nine assists to generate Nazareth scoring opportunities.
Connor Maisch tallied a game-high 28 points to lead the Pioneers in scoring. Maisch was followed by Nevins with 12 points, Matt Baldwin with 11 points, and Marion Lewis with 10 points. Maisch entered the contest leading Utica in scoring with an average of 15 points per game.
Utica finished with a 37-35 edge in total rebounds despite Maisch having the team-high with only eight boards. Ford finished with a game-high 10 rebounds for Nazareth to record his ninth double-double of the season. Mills also recorded eight rebounds. The Golden Flyers were without the services of freshman
Mitch Ford, who ranks third on the team in average total rebounds.
Stevens 74, St. John FIsher 68
Sophomore forward
Patrick Sabatino (Westfield, N.J.) scored a career-high 26 points to help propel the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team to a 74-68 win over St. John Fisher College Saturday evening at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. The win pushed Stevens to 4-0 in the Empire 8 and 11-1 overall.
Sabatino was all over the court through each and every one of his 32 minutes, playing strong defense, grabbing eight rebounds, tallying four blocked shots as well as a pair of steals for good measure. Sabatino was 10-for-13 from the field, 5-for-5 at the line and even nailed a clutch three-pointer from the top of the key to put Stevens ahead 54-43 with five minutes on the clock.
Stevens came out of the gate strong, twice building a seven-point lead in the first 10 minutes, but Fisher used a 10-2 run over a span of five minutes to turn a 16-9 deficit into 19-18 lead with 6:49 left in the first. Sophomore
Optimystik Kinard (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) punctuated the spurt with a three-point play for the guests.
The Ducks came right back, attacking the basket on their next five possessions and drawing fouls that turned into seven points and a six-point lead (25-19). After the two teams traded buckets over the final three minutes, the Ducks took an eight-point lead into the intermission when junior guard
Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.) found Sabatino for the duo's third alley-oop in the last three games on a perfectly executed inbounds play with 1.8 seconds on the clock.
Stevens held the Cardinals (9-6, 4-2 Empire 8) scoreless for the first 4:55 of the second half, but could not create as much separation as it would have liked, holding a 40-27 lead following a triple from senior guard
Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.). That three-pointer came after a Sabatino block at the top of the key on the opening Cardinal possession of the half. The carom bounced to Thompson who rewarded Sabatino for running the floor with a perfect lead pass that led to an emphatic left-handed slam.
St. John Fisher was able to hang around and got right back into the game behind two three-pointers from junior guard
Thad Wier (East Aurora, N.Y.), eventually trimming the Stevens lead to five (40-35) with 13:50 to play.
Junior guard
Andrew Meszaros (Phoenixville, Pa.) responded with back-to-back jumpers to slow the Cardinal momentum and push the Stevens advantage back to nine with 11 minutes on the clock. The Stevens lead stayed between seven and 11 until the 3:36 mark when senior center
Jason Norsen (Hamburg, N.Y.) notched a three-point play to cut the Stevens edge to six (54-48).
With the guests threatening, Sabatino answered with a turnaround baseline jumper, and following a stop, senior guard
Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) burried a big-time three to get the lead back to double-digits.
The Ducks stayed comfortably ahead until a four-point play from Wier brought Fisher back within six at the 31-second mark, but Stevens did enough at the line down the stretch to get the key win. Freshman guard
Evan Klimchak (Readington, N.J.) hit all four of his attempts and Thompson went 5-for-6 in the final 36 seconds.
The Ducks shot 45.1 percent (23-for-51) from the field and 24-for-29 (82.8 percent) from the line but were just 4-for-17 from beyond the arc. Stevens ended with a 37-34 edge on the glass, had seven blocked shots and five steals.
Thompson finished with 13 points and three rebounds, while Jones had 14 points. Skrelja tallied seven points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal, while sophomore forward
Kenny Gan (Hillsborough, N.J.) had six rebound and two blocked shots.
Wier and freshman guard
Chaz Lott (Wynantskill, N.Y.) each had a team-high 15 for the Cardinals, with Lott getting eight rebounds and three assists. Norsen had 13 points and six rebounds.
Fisher shot 39.7 percent (25-for-63) from the field, 8-for-26 (30.8 percent) from three and 10-for-12 at the line.