Houghton Wins First Game of Season; Stevens Downs Ithaca; Hartwick Powers Past Elmira
Houghton 89, Alfred 85 (OT)
The Houghton College men's basketball team needed an extra five minutes of play to hold off the Alfred Saxons, as the Highlanders picked up its first win of the 2012-13 season on Saturday afternoon, 89-85.
Houghton held a slim 38-36 lead at the intermission and lead by no more than five points in a back-and forth second stanza. Alfred trailed 78-76 with 15 second left when Thomas Tsatsis made a last second layup as time expired to send the game into overtime.
Houghton jumped ahead and gained a lead of 88-82 with just over 15 seconds remaining on the clock. Alfred buried a three-pointer with five seconds left to bring the score to 88-85, but that would be as close as the Saxons could come before time ran out.
Stevens 87, Ithaca 65
The 25th ranked Stevens Institute of Technology powered to its sixth straight victory with an 87-65 win over Ithaca College Saturday evening.
The Ducks and Bombers have both secured a spot in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament.
Ithaca opened action with an early 13-9 advantage, but Stevens went on to take the lead indefinitely with an 18-4 run. The Bombers answered, pulling within two at 7:34, but the Ducks closed out the half with a 42-33 gap.
The Ducks powered to a 22-point lead just four minutes into the second and never looked back. Ithaca brought the game within 18 on several occasions, but did not find the spark to challenge the nationally-ranked Ducks.
Stevens outrebounded Ithaca, 36-26, and shot 53.2 percent from the floor to the Bombers' 45.1 percent.
Hartwick 64, Elmira 44
Hartwick shot 46 percent from the floor en route to a 66-44 win over Elmira College Saturday evening.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw Elmira lead by just two and Hartwick open up as much as a seven point lead. The Hawks led 27-20 with 4:38 left in the opening half after a Jared Suderley three-pointer. The Soaring Eagles closed the half on a 9-2 run to lead 29-28 at intermission.
'Wick used an 11-3 run out of halftime that included two treys from Suderley and two baskets inside from Kyle Bradley to take a 40-31 lead six minutes into the second half. The Soaring Eagles trimmed the lead to 44-38 with 8:27 remaining but it wouldn't be enought as the Hawks used a 17-4 run to open up a 19 point lead with just over two minutes remaining and cruised to the 64-44 victory.