4-1 Day for Men's Hoops

4-1 Day for Men's Hoops

Bookmark and Share

Nazareth 74, RIT 51
Third-seeded Nazareth outscored eighth-seeded RIT 41-23 in the second half Saturday to pull away for a 74-51 men's basketball victory over the Tigers in the seventh-place game of the Wendy's College Classic at St. John Fisher.

Four players scored in double figures for the Golden Flyers, who improved to 4-2 overall. Seniors Jack Giles anded  Scott Hayford each scored 19 points, while senior Brad Ford combined 17 points with a game-high 16 rebounds. Sophomore Mitch Ford contributed 16 points. RIT, which got 18 points from Jameel Balenton, dropped to 5-3 overall.

Nazareth seized control early in the game as the Golden Flyers led 21-11 just 10 minutes in. Nazareth's lead grew to 12 points, 27-15, following a tip-in basket by Brad Ford with 6:13 left. RIT, however, closed the half with an 11-6 scoring run to trim the lead to five points, 33-28 at the break.

RIT never got closer in the second half as the Golden Flyers' lead returned to double digits for good, 45-33, following a three-point field goal by Hayford with just under 15 minutes to play. Nazareth's lead continued to swell with Mitch Ford hitting two free throws in the final seconds to make the final score Nazareth's largest margin at 74-51.

Hayford's 19 points came on 7-for-10 shooting, including 5-for-7 from three-point range. He also had four rebounds, three assists and three steals. The Golden Flyers shot an even 50 percent from the field (27-for-54), including 14-for-26 in the second half. Nazareth also made 8 of 16 three-point shots.

The Golden Flyers are off until Dec. 16-17 when they travel to Pennsylvania to compete in the Juniata Tournament. Nazareth plays Elizabethtown in a first-round matchup at 5 p.m. on Dec. 16. Juniata and Pitt.-Greenburg are the other teams competing.


St. John Fisher 60, Rochester 58
The No. 5 St. John Fisher College held off a second half surge by No. 7 University of Rochester to claim third place overall in the 48th annual Wendy's College Classic Saturday afternoon at Roberts Wesleyan's Voller Gymnasium.

With time winding down in the second half, Rochester held a slim 58-57 lead after battling back from a six point deficit when Chaz Lott drove the lane and found an open Keegan Ryan who dropped in two points allowing Fisher to reclaim the lead at 59-58.

Both teams hunkered down on the defensive end, as each forced a turnover, but Rochester would control possession with 11 ticks left on the clock trailing by a single point.

The Yellowjackets got a good look from behind the arc, but missed as Lott ripped down a huge rebound and was immediately fouled, sending the sophomore guard to the line where he would make one of two attempts to give Fisher a two-point lead.

Rochester had one final chance to tie or take the lead, but it was not to be as the Cardinals finished off the win, 60-58.

Fisher got out of the gates in a hurry in the first half, outscoring Rochester 20-8 over the game's first nine minutes. 

The No. 7 Yellowjackets would chip away, cutting the gap to eight points before Fisher used an 8-0 run capped by a Ryan free throw to give the Cardinals their largest advantage at 37-21.  A late three pointer by Rochester would send both teams into the locker room with the score reading 37-24.

Rochester would use a 7-0 run of its own to climb back into contention in the second half.  A pair of free throws by Pete Notaro halted Rochester's momentum temporarily, but the Yellowjackets responded with another run, this time outscoring Fisher 12-2 to pull with three points before eventually taking a short-lived lead.

Charles McVay scored 13 points in the win to go along with five rebounds.  Tyler Hart had eight points including two three pointers, while Ryan dropped nine points and hauled in 10 rebounds. 

The Cardinals shot extremely well from the field in the first half, connecting on 16 of 31 shots for roughly 52% from the floor.


Ithaca 64, St. Lawrence 56
The Ithaca College men's basketball team (3-4) defeated St. Lawrence (2-5) Saturday evening, dropping the Saints by a score of 64-56 at Ben Light Gymnasium. The win marked Ithaca's first home victory of the season.

Senior Frank Mitchell (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) scored 18 points to lead all Bombers for the fifth time this season. He also added two assists, a steal and seven rebounds. Junior Keefe Gitto(Great Barrington, Mass./Monument Mountain) also chipped in with a career-best nine points, and a team-best eight rebounds. Seniors Chris Jordan (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee), Tom Sweeney(Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) and sophomore Joey Ross (East Brunswick, N.J./East Brunswick) also contributed nine points in the win.

The Bombers shot 21-for-52 from the floor, shooting 40.4 percent for the game. Ithaca shot 27.8 percent from beyond the arc, hitting five threes on 18 attempts.

The Bombers came out hot in the opening half, leading by as many as five points in the first five minutes of play. Saint Lawrence chipped away to tie the score at 9-9 before Ithaca went on a 6-0 run that ended with an emphatic dunk from Gitto. The Saints tied the contest two more times in the first stanza, but Ithaca pulled ahead again to take a 33-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Saints took their first lead of the contest on a three pointer just 4:24 into the second half, putting the score at 38-37 in favor of St. Lawrence. After two lead changes in the following three minutes, Ross nailed a shot from beyond the arc to give Ithaca the 42-40 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the contest. 

From that point forward the Bombers never relinquished the lead, eventually taking an eight point edge on the Saints for a 64-56 win.


Houghton 88, D'Youville 83
The Houghton men's basketball team came out of the gates strong in today's game, defeating the Spartans of D'Youville College, 88-83. Outscoring the Spartans 35-26 in the first half while scoring 53 point in the second half, allowed for the Highlanders to clinch the victory.

In the first half, Johnathan Stowe (Toronto, ON, Canada, Don Mills Collegiate Institute) led the way offensively with 10 points, including 1 dunk. Defensively, Luke Khachadourian(Clifton Park, NY, Loudonville Christian) set a high standard by producing 3 steals in the first half of the game. Khachadourian's first steal was at a the 6:28 mark while the second steal was 8:52 into the first half, both of which created a pivotal turning point of giving the Highlanders a 9 point lead going into the second half.  

From the free throw line in the second half, the Highlanders shot an impressive 81.3%. Brandon Camacho (Dundee, NY, Dundee High School) and Brennen Campbell(Perry, NY, Perry Central) set the tone by scoring 10 point each; Camacho 4-4 at the line and Campbell 7-12 at the line. Stowe finished the second half with 3 blocks and 2 steals. 

It was in the last 12 seconds of the game where Jordan Christensen (Cashmere, WA, Cashmere) sealed the deal when he made 3 free throws; giving the Highlanders a 5 point lead. The Highlanders maintained this lead to the end of the game. 


Clarkson 75, Elmira 54
The Elmira College men's basketball team (3-4) had their three game win streak snapped this afternoon by the Golden Knights of Clarkson University (5-2), 75-54.  Prior to the start of today's game, Elmira recognized Josh Keys '14 for recording 200 career three pointers, becoming just the second player in Elmira College history to do so.   

Neil Randolph '15 led the Soaring Eagles with 20 points, the fourth straight game he has registered 20 or more points and the fifth consecutive game he has led the team in scoring.  Keys knocked down two three-pointers in today's contest, upping his career total to 209 as he finished with nine points while Derrick Vogel '14 chipped in with seven points and four rebounds. 

In first half, the lead changed hands four times and for most of the half, neither team led by more than five points.  However, Clarkson would close out the first half on a 10-4 run, which would give them a 35-26 lead entering the break, their largest lead of the half.

Clarkson opened the second half by holding Elmira to just six points in the first eight minutes of play, outscoring the Soaring Eagles 16-6 during that time.  The Golden Knights' second half run would prove to be the difference as Clarkson marched away from Speidel Gymnasium with a 75-54 win.