Second Half Runs Propel Cardinals, Ducks and Pioneers to Victory
St. John Fisher 87, Geneseo 79
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team came back from 11 points down in the second half to defeat host SUNY Geneseo 87-79 in the first round of the Wendy's College Classic Wednesday night. It was Fisher's first game on the hardwood since November 23rd.
With the win the fifth-seeded Cardinals (2-1) move on to the semifinal game at 6 p.m on Friday at Roberts Wesleyan College where they will take on top-seeded SUNY Brockport.
Geneseo built its largest lead of the game 54-43 at the 14:37 mark of the second half, but Fisher used a 12-0 run with Keegan Ryan scoring six of the Cardinals points to take a 55-54 lead midway through the half.
The Cardinals and Knights would trade baskets over the next six minutes. Tyler Hart converted a three-point-play to give Fisher a 71-69 advantage with under four minutes to play and Cardinals would not relinquish the lead again. FULL STORY
Stevens 90, Baruch 78
Sophomore guard Evan Klimchak scored a career-high 28 points on 9-for-11 from the field including six three-pointers to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team to 90-78 win over Baruch College Wednesday night in the Canavan Arena.
Klimchak shot 6-for-8 from deep and converted all four of his attempts from the foul line as the Ducks improved to 3-3 on the young 2013-14 season. Baruch fell to 4-2 in defeat.
Stevens finished the contest with 16 assists and a season-low 13 turnovers, and the Ducks shot 56.1 percent from the floor (32-for-57), 44 percent from three and 83 percent from the foul line (15-for-18).
After the Bearcats ended the first half on a 7-0 run that included a 45-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to cut an eight-point Duck lead to one, they took their first lead of the game on the first possession of the second period.
The lead went back-and-forth over the next eight minutes, and Baruch took its largest margin of the contest with 11:14 remaining following a layup from junior forward Granville Gittens.
Klimchak and the Ducks responded, as the sophomore buried a jumper and then canned a three-pointer to give the Ducks a one-point margin with 10:21 to play.
With the score knotted at 63 apiece, the hosts went on a 14-3 run over the next 3:53 to open a 77-66 edge at the 4:39 mark. FULL STORY
Utica 103, Canton 86
Junior point guard Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) netted a career-high 32 points as the Utica College men's basketball team topped visiting SUNY Canton 103-86 in its home opener on the hardwood at the Clark Athletic Center on Wednesday evening. Junior forward Marion Lewis (Bronx, NY/Lehman) finished the day with 23 points (six points shy of his career-high) as the Pioneers improved to 3-3 overall and scored over 100 points in regulation for the first time since November 17, 2006.
Senior forward Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) tallied a double-double for the fifth time in six games as he scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Jeffers now averages 15.5 points and 12.7 rebounds per game this year.
The Pioneers shot 61.9% from the floor on the afternoon (39-of-63) and they led for the majority of the contest (33:04, 82.7% of the game). The game featured six lead changes, with the visitors last lead of the game, 29-28, coming with 5:37 left in the first half. Utica responded after trailing by one, 29-28, with a 15-2 run in a span of the next 5:08 of the game to take a commanding 43-31 lead with 1:37 left in the first half. The run was sparked by five points from sophomore Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) and four points each from Nevins and Jeffers. Utica held Canton to 1-of-8 shooting in the pivotal first half run.
Canton did respond with a 9-6 run to close out the first half and the score was set at 49-40, in favor of the Pioneers, as the halftime horn sounded. FULL STORY
Roberts Wesleyan 70, Nazareth 68
Visiting sixth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan defeated third-seeded Nazareth 70-68 in the teams' first-round contest of the Wendy's College Classic, hosted by Nazareth. The Redhawks won the game on three-point shot by Patrick Downer just before time expired. On the Golden Flyers' earlier possession, Nazareth took a 68-67 lead with just under eight seconds to play in regulation as sophomore Maurice Mills converted a three-point play.
With the loss, the Golden Flyers suffer their first defeat of the season and fall to 3-1 overall. With the victory, Roberts, which is a NCAA Division II member, improves to 3-2 overall. The Redhawks advance to play the seventh-seeded University of Rochester Yellowjackets in the semifinal. Nazareth will play second-seeded Hobart on the consolation side of the bracket. The Golden Flyers' game on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. at RIT. The Yellowjackets defeated the Statesmen 85-75 in their quarterfinal game.
Mills' three-point play, with under eight seconds to play in the second half, gave the Golden Flyers their first lead of the final two minutes. Without timeouts to use, Nazareth used passes and cuts to set up Mills with the ball outside the arc. Mills drove to the basket and was fouled as he put his shot in the air. After connecting on the ensuing free throw, the Redhawks chose not to use a timeout to set up their final play. Herbert Alexander began driving toward the Golden Flyers' basket, then kicked the ball out to Downer on the left wing of the three-point arc. Downer released his shot just before time expired. Downer's shot banked off the backboard before finding its mark. It was Downer's only three-point basket of the game, and he entered the contest 5-16 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc this season. FULL STORY