Houghton Downs Canton; Nazareth and Fisher Fall in Wendy's Classic
Houghton 104, SUNY Canton 89 (
Box)
Tyler McQuaid (Lowman, NY, Twin Tiers Christian Academy) made his inside presence felt early, scoring nine points in the first three minutes, and finished with 28 points and 15 rebounds in a 104-89 win over SUNY Canton in the Nielsen Center on Friday night.
The Highlanders had a definite size advantage over the Roos, so they exploited it all night, but outside shooting was also effective as the hosts finished 9-of-19 from long range.
Houghton jumped out to an early 9-0 lead and led by as many as 18 in the first half and took a 45-33 lead into the break. The Highlanders shot 55 percent from the field in the first half and had a 26-14 edge on the boards.
But for as well as the Houghton offense clicked in the opening 20 minutes, the second half was even more impressive. Houghton shot 69 percent from the field after the break and converted 5-of-7 threes. They led by as many as 21, but 17 turnovers -- many forced by Canton's full court press -- and numerous Houghton fouls kept the Roos in the game.
Key jumpers by
Brennen Campbell (Perry, NY, Perry Central) and
Brandon Camacho(Dundee, NY, Dundee High School) and the continued post dominance of McQuaid,
Johnathan Stowe (Toronto, ON, Canada, Don Mills Collegiate Institute) and
Matthew Ball (Binghamton, NY, Chenango Valley), kept the lead in double figures down the stretch.
Stowe finished with his second-straight double-double (16 points, 13 rebounds) and added four blocked shots. Camacho poured in 18 points and dished out nine assists, Ball finished with 12 points and Campbell added 11 points. Also having a strong performance was
Andrew Makori (Mukilteo, WA, Shoreline Community College) with a career-high 12 assists.
Houghton shot 61 percent from the field on the night and outrebounded Canton, 56-27.
Hobart 77, Nazareth 71
Second-seeded Hobart held off a second-half rally by third-seeded Nazareth Friday and held on to take a 77-71 men's basketball victory over the Golden Flyers in a consolation game of the Wendy's College Classic played at RIT's Clark Gymnasium.
Hobart improved to 4-1 overall, while Nazareth lost its second straight tournament game and slipped to 3-2 overall. The Golden Flyers will play in Saturday's seventh-place game at St. John Fisher at 1 p.m. against the loser of the second consolation game between RIT and Geneseo.
The game was close throughout, but Hobart led 34-26 at halftime and extended that advantage to as many as 12 points on four occasions in the second half. The last time came on a jumper by Joe Gibbons with 12:58 to go. An 18-5 scoring run by the Golden Flyers that spanned more than five minutes enabled Nazareth to take a 58-57 lead with 7:18 left.
Scott Hayford and
Brad Ford each hit three-point baskets during the scoring run, which ended on a basket by
Mitch Ford.
The teams exchanged baskets over the next four minutes. Nazareth tied the game at 69-69 on a basket by
Maurice Mills and again at 71-71 on a basket by Mitch Ford with 1:38 left.
The Golden Flyers didn't score again as Gibbons hit the go-ahead basket with 1:03 left. Trey Blanding added two free throws with :29 left and Richie Bonney hit two more with :09 to seal the win for the Statesmen.
Hobart shot the ball well all night, hitting 31 of 56 shots from the floor overall (55.4 percent), including 16 of 23 (69.6 percent) in the second half. Nazareth went 30 for 66 (45.5 percent) from the field, but made only 3 of 19 three-point shots.
Brad Ford led the Golden Flyers with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Mills scored 17 points and Hayford had 16. Gibbons led all scorers with 24 points for Hobart. Bonney had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Blanding had 12 points and 10 assists.
Brockport 73, St. John Fisher 61
The No. 5 St. John Fisher College men's basketball lost a hard-fought battle to top-seeded College of Brockport 73-61, Friday night in a semifinal matchup at the 48
th annual Wendy's College Classic hosted by Roberts Wesleyan.
The Cardinals, now 2-2, will square off against sixth-seeded Roberts Wesleyan or No. 7 University of Rochester at 3 p.m. in Saturday's consolation contest.
Fisher never held the lead in the contest as the Golden Eagles sprinted out to an early 20-9 lead including a 10-4 run to start the game.
Matt Cooney did his part to keep the contest close, scoring Fisher's first seven points, but Brockport would extend its lead to 14 points with just under five minutes remaining in the half.
The Cardinals went to work in the final minutes of the opening frame, scoring seven unanswered points to make it 33-27 before a Brockport lay-up pushed the lead back to eight as the half expired.
Brockport came out of the locker room firing on cylinders. Fisher was able to cut the deficit to nine points, but that was as close as it would get as the Golden Eagles opened up an 18 point lead at one point en route to a 73-61 win.
Ryan Keegan was nearly perfect from the floor tonight, dropping 13 points on 3-4 shooting and 5-5 from the charity stripe.
Chaz Lott tallied 10 points to go along with three rebounds and four assists, while Cooney finished with 11 points and four boards