Hawks, Saxons and Soaring Eagles Open Season With Wins
ELMIRA 57, Oswego 56
The Elmira College men's basketball team trailed by 14 points with 8:10 to play, but they closed the game on a 21-6 run to rally past Oswego State, 57-56, on opening night of the Oswego State Tip-Off Classic. Tonight's win marks the first season-opening victory for an EC men's basketball team in five years, the last coming against Fredonia State in the 2009-10 season.
Tyler Dibble '15 was one of three Elmira players in double-digits, scoring 10 points, but it was his layup as time expired that lifted the Soaring Eagles to victory. Joining Dibble in double-figures were
Neil Randolph '15 and rookie
Hayden Harkins '18. Randolph led all scorers with 18 points and also tied for the team-high with
David Borelli '15 in rebounds with eight. Harkins matched Dibble's 10 points in his first career start, going 2-of-3 from three-point range and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively in the first half, as it was just an 8-7 game, in favor of the Soaring Eagles, over five minutes into the game. Oswego State went on a 7-0 run over the next four minutes to break open a six-point lead, but EC responded with a 9-0 run of their own to go back on top 17-14 with 6:09 left in the first half. The Purple and Gold stayed in the lead for the remainder of the first half and took a 25-24 advantage into the locker rooms.
Randolph opened up the scoring in the second half to put EC up 27-24, but Elmira would fall behind for the first time since the 9:40 mark of the first half when Oswego's Kyle Covley gave the Lakers a 28-27 lead just over three minutes into the second half. Oswego State then proceeded to go on a 16-5 run over the next seven minutes of the game to make it a 44-32 game, and then, after a
Justin Ruback '18 jumper broke Elmira's cold-spell, the Lakers again used a mini 6-2 run to break open the game's largest lead at 50-36.
From there, however, it was all EC. A pair of Dibble free throws kicked-off what would eventually be a 17-2 run that put Elmira ahead 53-52 with 2:27 left in regulation. The lead would exchange hands four times over the final two-plus minutes of play, the last coming on Dibble's game-winning layup as time expired.
HARTWICK 82, Farmingdale State 65
Hartwick's men's basketball team rolled past Farmingdale State on Saturday at the Max Ziel Tournament in Oswego, 82-65. The game was the season opener for both teams. The Hawks led from start to finish and at one point led by 27 points in a resounding win over the Rams.
Transfer
Trevor Norton, playing in his first game as a Hawk, led all scorers with 17 points. Center
Matt Wilson added a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Guards
Joey Lufkin and
Matt Petruccione were both in double figures with 16 and 11 points, respectively.
The Hawks took control early, jumping out to a 9-2 lead while forcing the Rams into four turnovers after five minutes. 'Wick maintained at least a six-point lead for the next eight minutes and built a double-digit advantage, 26-14, on a Petruccione three-pointer with 7:38 left in the half. Hartwick led by nine or more for the rest of the half, taking a 38-28 edge into the locker room.
The Hawks made four of their first five shots of the second half and the lead grew to 18 points, 48-30, after just 2:10.
Farmingdale trimmed the margin to 12 points with just under 14 minutes left, but a big 19-4 run for the Hawks over the next six minutes would push the advantage to 27 points, 73-46, with under nine minutes to play. The Rams only managed to get the deficit under 20 with less than a minute left on the clock.
The Hawks shot 46.3% (31-of-67) as a team and connected on 12 three-pointers. Lufkin hit four three's in the game to lead the Hartwick shooters.
Glenn Gavan chipped in with nine points for the Hawks.
Joe Krong added five points and seven boards.
The Rams were led by Leland Williams' 12 points. Justin Bailey and Marques Underwood each had 10.
ALFRED 95, SUNY ESF 57
Freshman guard
Nick Schmidt and the Saxons had no problem putting away the Might Oaks of SUNY ESF, toppling them, 95-57.
The Saxons, with first year coach
Russell Phillips, opened the season with a victory over SUNY ESF. Schmidt, who only shot from outside the arc, hit 7-8 (87.5%) and made 2-2 free throws to lead the team with 23 points on the evening.
Dalton Walsh followed up the young guard with 18 points and seven rebounds on the season debut.
Coming out of the gates the Saxons picked up where they left off last season, scoring in fast and scoring often. Just over eight minutes into the game the Saxons were out to an 18-point lead over ESF, leading 30-12. However, the Mighty Oaks returned fire and diminished the lead to eight with only four minutes to go in the half, shooting well down the stretch (11-25, 44.0%).
The Saxons, on the other hand, would not be outdone and put together an incredible half, hitting 19-31 (61.3%) of their shots. Going into the half, the Saxons had also hit 6-11 (54.5%) from three, with Schmidt leading the charge making all three of his long shots. AU took the lead, 51-39, into the intermission.
Following the half, the Saxons ramped up their defense, constantly putting pressure on their opponents, forcing 16 turnovers for 10 steals. With a high intensity defense, the Saxons held ESF to only 25% shooting from the field and did not allow a three pointer the entire half.
On the other end of the court, AU continued to shoot lights out making 15 of 32 (46.9%) from the field and adding seven threes. Schmidt, once again, was draining shots from deep, making 4-5 (80%). AU rode their offense the rest of the way, dealing a loss to the Mighty Oaks, 95-57.
Sophomore
Eric Adams and senior
Mike Snyder added 15 and 12 points, respectively, to the Saxon effort. Senior
Tim Pacheco was dishing the ball around evenly, notching eight assists on the evening. Walsh added four blocks to his stellar offensive night, while four Saxons had two steals apiece.
HOUGHTON 95, Wells 86
Jordan Scott (Burlington, ON, Canada, Notre Dame Secondary),
Tyler McQuaid (Lowman, NY, Twin Tiers Christian Academy), and
Johnathan Stowe (Toronto, ON, Canada, Don Mills Collegiate Institute) took turns capitalizing on scoring opportunities late in the game, giving the Highlanders a 95-86 victory over the Express of Wells College.
The Express claimed a 4-1 lead just under 2 minutes into the game. 2 McQuaid free throws and a 3-pointer helped contribute to a 12-6 Highlander lead. While Stowe continued to light up the paint,
Brennen Campbell (Perry, NY, Perry Central) was perfect at the free throw line—sinking 4 within a minute.
Up 27-18, Houghton found themselves tied 27-27 due to 9 consecutive Express points. From there, Wells allowed for only 4 Highlander points comparable to their 14 additional points; Wells took a 10 point lead, 41-31. With 3 minutes left in the first period, Houghton was still in a 10 point deficit, losing 48-38. A layup and jumper by
Phil Pellegrino (Rochester, NY, Alfred University), 2 free throws by Campbell, and a layup by Stowe would bring the Highlanders to a 48-46 trail.
26 seconds was all that remained in the first period when Scott tied the game with a layup. It was only second later when Stowe would give Houghton the 50-48 lead with a layup of his own, closing out the first period.
While there was a lot of action for the Houghton offense within the first minute of the second period, it wasn't until Stowe's back-to-back free throw and dunk where the Highlanders took flight.
Leading 53-48, Houghton would find themselves tied with Wells on 5 different occasions. When tied at 64, Campbell broke the mold with a 3-point shot, giving the Highlanders the lead. As the game continued, Pellegrino's 3-point shot would give Houghton a 1 point lead over Wells, 74-73. After high intensity of back and forth—matching point for point, the two teams were tied 83-83 with 3:34 left on the clock. 2 consecutive layups, as well as 2 free throws put Houghton at a 89-83 advantage.
With 18 seconds left in the game, Stowe and Scott confirmed the 95-86 victory with back-to-back layups.
Stowe led the way offensively with 21 points, followed by McQuaid with 18, Campbell with 17, and Scott with 14. Campbell was very impressive at the free throw line, going 14-15. Stowe shot 64% on the night, with 5 steals.
Skidmore 82, Ithaca 74
Rochester 61, Nazareth 56