Friday Night Hoops Action

1/24/2014 10:21:00 PM

Alfred 106, Houghton 91 (Box Score)
The Alfred University men's basketball team earned a 106-91 victory over Houghton College on the road, Friday evening. 
           
Junior forward Jeremy Johnson (Martinsburg, WV/Martinsburg (Shepherd University)) helped Alfred to a slight 42-39 lead at halftime, with eight points.
           
In the second half, junior guard Mike Snyder (Pulaski, NY/Pulaski) drained a 3-pointer to give AU a 21-point lead with 10:07 remaining, and Houghton was unable to close the gap. For the game, Alfred shot 42 percent from the field and 73 percent from the free-throw line.
           

Stevens 85, Ithaca 68 (Box Score)
 Junior forward Patrick Sabatino scored 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting to lead four players in double figures as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team improved to 5-2 in the Empire 8 with an 85-68 win over Ithaca College.

 Stevens shot 53.2 percent from the field (33-for-62). It was the third-straight game the Ducks shot over 50 percent. They also connected on 8-of-18 from deep and went 11-for-15 at the line. Stevens had a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (16-8), and its eight turnovers were a new season-low.
 
Up one point with 10:44 left in the first, Stevens went on an 8-1 spurt to take an eight-point margin following a Sabatino three-pointer, and the lead swelled to 12 (37-25) after a Meszaros jump shot with 2:51 in the opening period.
 
Andrew Meszaros opened the second-half scoring with a three-pointer to make it 46-33 Ducks as they would open up an 18-point margin at 51-33 with 16:11 to go. The Bombers finally scored 4:16 into the period, and eventually trimmed the Stevens lead to six (72-66) with a shade over five minutes to play in regulation.
 
The Ducks responded in a big way over the next three minutes, going on a 12-0 run to put the game away. Sabatino scored the first four points, and a Evan Klimchak three pushed the lead to 13 with 3:07 on the clock and the scoreboard showing 79-66 visitors as the Ducks cruised the rest of the way.

Hartwick 93, Utica 82 (Box Score)
Host Utica got off to an early 11 point lead but the Hartwick men's basketball team recovered to take a 52-39 lead into halftime and staved off the Pioneers in a 93-82 win at Clark Athletic Center on Friday night. 

For the ninth time this season, senior forward Jared Suderley reached double figures in points and rebounds as he had 26 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Hawks. Suderley was 11-of-20 from the field and also dished out four assists. In the process, Suderley passed both Tim O'Brien (1979-1983) and Joe Britton (1988-1992) for third place on Hartwick's all-time scoring list.

The home team quickly got out to the lead as the Pioneers went up 8-0 in just under two minutes of game time. UC increased its lead to 18-7 at 16:11 of the first half.

The Pioneer lead was still up 11 points, 21-10, at 15:22. Hartwick would recover as its 19-7 run ended with the Hawks' first lead on the contest, 29-28, at 8:29. Utica briefly regained the lead but 'Wick scored 10 straight points to go up 39-31 with 3:34 showing on the clock. UC knocked the deficit to five points, but Hartwick would go on a 11-3 run to end the frame capped off by Bradley's layup with time expiring as the Hawks went into the locker room with the 52-39 advantage.

In the second half, the Pioneers got to within seven points of tying the game up, 58-51, at 16:49. It would be as close as UC would get as 'Wick maintained a double-digit for most of the second period. Hartwick led by as much as 86-69 with 6:44 remaining to play in the game. Utica chipped away and got to within 10 points, 87-77, with just under four minutes to play. Hartwick outscored the Pioneers 6-5 down the stretch, however, to get the win.

St. John Fisher 69, Elmira 63 (Box Score)
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball program improved to 8-1 in its last nine games, as the Cardinals held on for a 69-63 win over visiting Elmira College in an Empire 8 Conference matchup on Friday night.

The Cardinals led 35-23 late in the first half, but Elmira hit back-to-back 3-pointers – a 30-footer as the horn sounded and another three on the opening possession of the second half to make it 35-29.   Fisher responded with a 10-2 run over the next five minute to push its lead to 14 points, its largest margin of the night.

The Soaring Eagles, however, stuck around, thanks to 14-3 run, and trimmed Fisher's lead down to three points on three different occasions in the final five minutes, but each time, Fisher was able to answer from the charity stripe.

The Cardinals shot 17-of-24 from the foul line in the second half with Chaz Lott scoring nine of his 15 points at the line, including six in the final 3:15.  Lott did miss two free throws with 37 seconds left, but got his own rebound and made a layup two seconds later to put the Cardinals ahead, 66-58.

SCHOOL	CONF	OVERALL
Hartwick	6-1	11-6
St. John Fisher	5-1	11-5
Stevens	5-2	11-5
Nazareth	4-2	11-5
Alfred	3-2	11-4
Elmira	1-4	5-10
Utica	1-6	6-10
Ithaca	0-7	4-13
Houghton	0-0	3-13
Houghton is an NCAA provisional member and is not eligible for postseason. Games against the Highlanders will not impact conference records/standings.