Elmira, Hartwick and Stevens Win
Stevens 61, FDU-Florham 57
Senior guard
Andrew Meszaros notched the first double-double of his career with 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team improved to 2-2 overall with a gritty 61-57 over FDU-Florham Tuesday night.
Trailing 48-46 coming out of a timeout with 6:01 on the clock, Stevens went on a 9-2 run over the next 4:30 to open a 55-50 advantage with just 1:31 left in regulation. On the ensuing inbounds play, senior guard
Matt Skrelja found Meszaros for a layup, and Skrelja than turned FDU over with a clean steal and fast-break layup to give the Ducks a 50-48 margin. The Devils (1-3) tied the game on their next possession before a Meszaros three-pointer gave Stevens the lead for good at 53-50 with 3:01 on the clock.
Skrelja capped the 9-2 spurt with a layup of his own, but the Devils did not quit, getting within two points (59-57) with 10 seconds remaining but two free throws each from senior guard
Phillip DeSeignora and sophomore guard
Evan Klimchak secured the win for Stevens.
Early in the second half Stevens was able to create some space, opening a 44-37 margin with 9:53 left thanks to a steal and three-point play from DeSeignora, but FDU ran off 11 of the game's next 13 points to open a lead of its own.
The first half was a see-saw affair. The Ducks jumped out to a 9-4 edge 5:31 into the action following a steal and fast-break layup from DeSeignora, but the Devils quickly responded with five-straight points to tie the game at nine 3:06 later.
The Devils' first lead of the game came at 12-11 after three-pointer from senior guard Trevor Sykes as the two teams played back-and-forth basketball for the next 5:59.
With FDU leading by one at the 5:08 mark, Stevens ran-off seven-straight points to open its largest lead of the night – six points – behind two points from Skrelja and Meszaros and a triple from DeSeignora.
That lead would be short lived as FDU answered and the two teams went into the intermission tied at 27-all. The Ducks shot just 29.0 percent from the field and 28.6 from deep. The Ducks had just four turnovers in the first 20 minutes and totaled five steals along with four assists.
Stevens shot 41.2 percent for the game (21-for-51) and hit 4-of-13 from three-point range. The Ducks converted 15 of their 23 attempts at the line, including six for their last six, and had 10 steals as a team.
Meszaros was 5-for-7 from the floor en route to his 17 points, 12 rebounds and two assists, while DeSeignora had 14 points and three steals. Skrelja finished with 13 points, four steals, four rebounds and three assists, while junior forward
Patrick Sabatino notched seven points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
FDU shot 43.4 percent for the game (23-for-53) and 5-for-25 (20 percent) from deep. The Devils connected on just 6-of-13 attempts at the line and were led by 17 points, six assists and three rebounds from senior forward John Flete.
Elmira 73, Oberlin 71
The game was knotted up at 71 apiece as
Neil Randolph '15 stepped to the free throw line for two foul shots and only 3.6 seconds left on the clock. Randolph, who had already tallied a game-high 27 points to this point, calmly hit the two freebies to give the Elmira College men's basketball team a 73-71 victory over Oberlin College. The win is EC's third in a row and moves EC to .500 on the season, the latest the Soaring Eagles have been at least .500 since the 2002-03 season.
The first 20 minutes of play was a back-and-forth affair as the lead exchanged hands 15 times and was tied another five. Oberlin led 14-10 early on, their largest lead of the first half, but a quick 5-0 run put EC in front by one. The two teams traded baskets for most of the final 11-plus minutes, but the Purple and Gold were able to apply some defensive pressure towards the end of the half to force the Yeomen into a couple turnovers. The turnovers led to two easy buckets by
Derrick Vogel '14 as the Soaring Eagles took a 39-35 lead into the locker room.
EC came out of the locker room in the second half and extended their lead to six, but that would be the largest lead of the night for either team as the Yeomen kept the game within reach. The Soaring Eagles would maintain the lead for the first 11 minutes of the half, but Oberlin fought back to go ahead with 8:38 to play.
EC trailed by one with under three minutes on the clock, but that all changed with one play as Vogel converted an and-one opportunity to give the Soaring Eagles a two-point lead. Oberlin retook the lead on a three-pointer from Geoff Simpson, but a free throw from Vogel made the score 71-71 and set up Randolph's heroics. A turnover with 25 seconds left gave the Purple and Gold the ball back with a chance to win the game. Randolph drew a foul in the paint and the rest is history as EC went onto win by the 73-71 score.
Randolph continued his scoring tear, dropping 29 points, his third straight 20-plus point game, on 8-11 shooting and a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line. Vogel chipped in 16 points and led the team with four rebounds.
Hartwick 76, Union 65
Two Union turnovers in the final minute turned into key points for Hartwick as the men's basketball team went on a 7-0 run to pull away for a 76-65 victory over the Dutchmen on Tuesday night at the Viniar Athletic Center. The victory improves Hartwick's record to 3-2 while Union falls to 0-3.
Jared Suderley led the Hawks with 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds.
Joey Lufkin scored 16 points.
Matt Wilson came off the bench and added 14 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks.
Kyle Bradley added nine points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks.
Union scored the opening basket of the game but the Hawks quickly responded with five straight points to go ahead 5-2 at 18:06 of the first half. The Dutchmen briefly took the lead just inside of 16 minutes remaining in the half, but the Hawks would go on a 17-6 run to surge ahead 22-12 with 8:18 showing on the clock.
Union cut the 'Wick lead to five but the Hawks would restore the 10 point lead with layups by Lufkin and Suderley and a free throw by Wilson to go ahead 27-17 at 6:04. The Dutchmen rallied to get within four points, 33-29, following a three-pointer from Terell Winney with 1:41 showing on the clock. Two free throws from Winney were sandwiched by two Wilson layups as the Hawk lead would stand at 35-29 with just over a minute until halftime. With 31 seconds left, Union's Kevin Weckworth made the first of two free attempts and 'Wick went into the locker room with a 35-30 lead.
Hartwick increased its lead less than a minute into the second half when Suderley hit a trey to put the Hawks ahead 38-30. 'Wick still had 42-34 advantage at 18:08 but a 10-0 run by Union would give it its first lead since 16:27 of the first half.
The two teams would exchange baskets as the score remained close. The Dutchmen took their final lead of the night after a free throw from Brian DeBisschop gave the home team a 47-46 advantage with 9:44 showing on the game clock.
Hartwick regained the lead on a layup from Wilson at 9:23. The Hawks would go up by as much as six points at 7:28 but Union again rallied and trailed only 56-55 at 5:21.
The game was knotted up at 62-all with 3:27 remaining in the second stanza. The Hawks, however, went on a 14-3 run in the end to pull away from the Dutchmen.
After a three and a layup from Lufkin put 'Wick ahead by five, 67-62 at 2:42, a layup from Suderley pushed the advantage to seven at 1:22. After a free throw from Winney, Bradley hit two free throws with 47 seconds remaining to give Hartwick a 71-63 lead. Bradley then forced a Union turnover that he turned into two Hartwick points and then Suderley forced another Union turnover and dunked the ball with 29 seconds left to cement the Hawks' win.
Suderley scored 18 points in the second half to lead the Hawks to victory. Hartwick hit 48.5 % (16-of-33) of its field goals in the period compared to 36.4 % (12-of-33) for Union. The Hawks finished with the same percentage of shots made as the Dutchmen converted nearly 33% of their total shots.
Union ended the game with a slight edge in rebounds, 48-42. Hartwick blocked a total of six shots and led in points in the paint, 44-30.
Pitt-Bradford 89, Houghton 71 (
Box Score)