Hartwick and Alfred Fall on the Road
Mount Union 95, Hartwick 81
The Hartwick men's basketball team faced off with Mount Union at the U of R Holiday Inn/Airport Classic on Saturday night at the Louis Alexander Palestra. The Hawks had the early lead but the Purple Raiders would go on a 22-3 run in the first half to pull away as they defeated Hartwick 95-81.
The Hawks began the game on a 5-0 run and despite Mount Union tying the game at 5-all at 14:54, 'Wick's 11-5 run would give it a six-point lead, 16-10, at 12:15. The Purple Raiders came storming back with the 22-3 run to go ahead 31-20 with 6:14 left until the break.
Hartwick would chip away at the lead as a traditional three-point play from
Joey Lufkin and then a tip-in from
Jared Suderley narrowed the deficit to six points, 31-25 at 5:20. A 19-6 Purple Raider run to close out the first half, however, would restore the double-digit lead for Mount Union as it went into the locker room up 50-31.
The Purple Raiders kept the pressure on in the opening minutes of the second half as they increased their lead to as much as 21 points, 54-33, at 19:05. Hartwick would mount a strong comeback as a 27-12 run covering eight minutes of game time narrowed the Purple Raider lead to 66-60 with 11:05 showing on the clock.
Mount Union's Cody Dillon hit a trey to put Mount Union ahead 72-60 but a three-point play form Suderley brought the advantage down to nine points again at 9:06. 'Wick would still trail by nine, 78-69, with 6:28 remaining in the contest but it would be as close as the Hawks could get as they could get never get as close as 10 points as Mount Union held off Hartwick for the victory.
Hartwick had four players score in double figures led by Lufkin's 18 points.
Matt Petruccione added a career-high 17 points. Suderley and
Kyle Bradley both had double-doubles; Suderley with 16 points and 14 rebounds and Bradley with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Mount Union received 22 points from TJ Gillespie who also dished out four assists. Dillion added 21 points and six rebounds. Jarret Ruffin and Kyle Sceltza both added 13 points with Ruffin blocking four Hartwick shots.
The Purple Raiders shot 54.4 % (37-of-68) from the floor compared to 42.4% (28-of-66) for the Hawks. Hartwick did convert 50% (4-of-8) of its three-point shots while Mount Union made 44.8% (13-of-29) of its shots.
'Wick controlled the glass, 39-37. Hartwick also outscored the Purple Raiders in the paint, 42-34, and off of turnovers, 18-15.
Hilbert 96, Alfred 87
The Alfred University men's basketball team squared off against Hilbert College Saturday afternoon. AU dropped a 96-87 decision on the road in a non-conference matchup to Hilbert.
Alfred held a 44-43 lead at halftime, but Hilbert outscored the Saxons 53-43 in the second half, giving them the edge. For the game, Alfred capitalized from Hilbert's turnovers, scoring 30 points. AU was also cold behind the arc, only shooting five-for-30 (17 percent), compared to Hilbert's 37 percent.
Senior center
Steve Lothridge paced the Saxons with a double-double, scoring a team-best 18 points and pulling down a team-high 18 rebounds. Junior guard
Thomas Tsatsis scored 11 points, grabbed three rebounds, had two assists, and stole the ball twice.