Nazareth, Ithaca, Fisher and Stevens all Win
Nazareth 77, Hartwick 62
Junior
Brad Ford amassed a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds while junior
Scott Hayford tallied a career-high 18 points to lead host Nazareth to a 77-52 Empire 8 men's basketball victory on Friday evening. The Golden Flyers used a balanced scoring attack to down the Hawks as four different players finished in double-digits in scoring.
The Golden Flyers used an 11-2 run over the final four minutes of the first half to break a 27-27 tie. Brad Ford ignited the run with a layup, which was followed by a layup by senior
Dan Waldbillig, another layup by Ford, and a three-point basket by junior
Jack Giles. Ford capped the run by stealing the Hawks inbounds pass to convert another layup in the closing seconds after Giles' three-pointer. Ford's basket gave Nazareth a 38-29 lead at the break.
In the second half, Hartwick closed its deficit to six points, 46-40, with about 12 minutes to play in regulation after Aaron Laing and Kyle Bradley converted three-point opportunities. The Golden Flyers regained their double-digit lead moments later following jumpers by Brad Ford and senior
Tyshun Stephens. Nazareth extended its lead to a game-high 15 points in the final minute by connecting on free throw opportunities. The Golden Flyers finished 15-19 (79 percent) from the charity stripe in the second half.
In addition to the points by Brad Ford and Hayford, Stephens finished with 14 points and a game-high nine assists. Giles added 10 points. The Golden Flyers maintained their lead by hitting timely three-point baskets in the second half, finishing the period 4-6 (67 percent) from behind the arc. Nazareth held the Hawks to shooting 2-12 (17 percent) from the three-point arc.
Jared Suderley had a team-high 18 points for Hartwick. Suderley entered Friday's game averaging over 20 points per game but was somewhat limited in the second half after collecting his fourth foul with about 16 minutes to play in the game. Bradley finished with 15 points and collected a team-high nine rebounds.
Nazareth finished with an overwhelming 40-24 advantage in total rebounds, including 11-4 in offensive rebounds. Stephens and Hayford collected six rebounds and five rebounds, respectively, in addition to Brad Ford's 12 boards.
Ithaca 101, Alfred 76
The Ithaca College men's basketball team used a torrid start over the first 10 minutes and went on to a 101-76 win over visiting Alfred in an Empire 8 game Friday night at Ben Light Gymnasium. The Bombers are 6-3 overall, 2-0 in the Empire 8 while the Saxons fell to 2-8 on the season and 0-2 in the conference.
Ithaca built a 17-2 lead and extended it to a 28-4 advantage at the 10-minute mark of the first half. Alfred managed to close to within seven points in the final minute of the first half, but it was the closest the Saxons would get the rest of the way.
The Bombers drove to the basket and put Alfred in foul trouble in each half. Ithaca was in the free-throw shooting bonus with 13:03 left in the first half and 10:01 remaining in the second half. Ithaca attempted 33 free throws in the game and converted 28 of their chances from the line. Alfred was 9-for-16 at the free-throw line. The Bombers held a 43-26 rebounding advantage.
Ithaca shot 58.5 percent from the floor and 11 different players scored for Ithaca, including four in double figures.
Frank Mitchell (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) led Ithaca with 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 night at the line. He also had nine rebounds, two blocks, a steal and an assist.
Andrei Oztemel (Westport, Conn./Staples) had 16 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.
Sean Rossi (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) had 13 points and nine assists, and
Travis Warech (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville) scored 10 points.
St. John Fisher 70, Utica 61
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team remained flawless in Empire 8 play with a 70-61 win over host Utica College on Friday night. The Cardinals are now 3-0 in league play, and improve to 8-4 overall. The game was also the third Conference matchup for the Pioneers who fall to 1-2 in the E8 and 3-8 on the season.
The Cardinals took control of the game on
Justin Plata's three-pointer at the 7:16 mark of the first half, and from there, the team would never trail. Fisher entered the locker room with a 42-37 lead after
Adam Ambielli netted a free throw with zeros on the clock.
Fisher kept control of the game in the second half and eventually broke out to its largest lead of the game, up by 14 points with 14:21 left in the game and leading 57-43. The Pioneers rallied in the remaining minutes, cutting the lead to just three points on two separate occasions, but the road team was able to hold them off.
The scoring was balanced throughout for the Fisher squad, with four players scoring in double digits and another six contributing to the team's total.
Optimystik Kinard led Fisher with 13 points, followed by
Thad Wier's 12 and
Chaz Lott's 11 points. Lott also had a team-high four assists. The senior Plata scored 10 points, while classmate
Jason Norsen added to his nation-leading block average with five swatted shots.
Stevens 80, Houghton 61
Sophomore forward
Patrick Sabatino (Westfield, N.J.) scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds to lead five players in double figures as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team improved to 7-1 with an 80-61 win at Houghton College Friday evening.
The meeting between the two schools is the first of many as Houghton is in its first year as a member of the Empire 8.
After falling behind 9-4 early, the Ducks used an 11-0 run over a span of 3:14 to open a 15-9 margin with 9:13 left in the first half. Senior guard
Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) started the run with a jumper, with junior guard
Phillip DeSeignora (Boston, Mass.) and Sabatino tallying five and four points, respectively to give Stevens the lead for good.
Stevens pushed the margin to 10 (21-11) behind a layup from freshman
guard Evan Klimchak (Readington, N.J.), and after the Highlanders fought back to within seven (23-16), the Duck lead swelled to 18 at the end of the first courtesy of a 15-4 spurt over the final 4:17 of the period. Five-straight points from senior guard
Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) ignited things and sophomore
forward Kenny Gan (Hillsborough, N.J.) converted a Thompson feed into two points as time expired.
Thompson found Sabatino for another layup 1:11 into the second half to push the Stevens lead to 20 (42-22), but the hosts did not go quietly, battling back to within 10 points at the 15:36 mark of the second. Stevens was able to withstand the charge, turning an 11-point margin to 18 after another DeSeignora three.
Houghton again fought back to within 10 with 8:06 to play, but three-straight buckets around two stops pushed the lead back to 16 for the Ducks at 70-54. The margin expanded to 24 – the largest lead of the game for Stevens – with 2:04 in regulation as the Ducks cruised over the final five minutes to their fourth double-digit win of the season.