NAZARETH 89, Keystone 78
Junior
Maurice Mills amassed a career-high 38 points and tied his career-high in rebounds with 16 to lead host Nazareth to an 89-78 non-conference men's basketball game on Saturday evening. Sophomores
Josh Gillard and
Jack Mulcahy also tallied career-highs in points with 13 points and 12, respectively. Gillard's previous game-high was eight points, and Mulcahy's previous high was nine points. Mills was only two points shy of tying the single-game scoring record. Richard Sparks is the all-time Nazareth leader. He tallied 40 points in an 88-85 Nazareth victory against Alfred on December 13, 1986.
With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 1-1 overall. Following the loss, the Giants drop to 0-4 overall. Saturday's game was the first time Nazareth played in two weeks after snow postponed the Medaille Tournament that was scheduled for November 22nd-23rd.
The Golden Flyers had a pair of 10-point leads midway through the first half before Keystone rallied to cut its deficit to three points, 33-30, at halftime. The final five minutes of the period featured four lead changes and three ties. Mills had 11 points in the opening half to lead Nazareth, but the Giants' Duncan Lunsford tallied 15 points to lead all scorers.
Keystone was able to tie the score twice in the opening 2:05 of the second half, however, the Golden Flyers scored seven unanswered points in 56 seconds to swing the momentum. Mills ignited the run with a jumper, which was followed by a three-point play by Gillard, then Mills capped the run with a steal and a layup. After having its lead cut to three points, 46-43, Nazareth answered with another 7-0 run to take its first double-digit lead of the half. Mills started the run with a layup, then he, sophomore
Dan Morse, and junior
Mitch Ford combined for five free throws.
The Giants closed to within three points, 57-54, with just over 10 minutes to play in regulation, but Nazareth pulled away during the next four minutes to reclaim their double-digit lead. Both teams were hampered by foul trouble towards the end of the game. Keystone was whistled for 32 fouls while the Golden Flyers were called for 26.
Mills amassed 27 of his 38 points in the second stanza. He shot 14-19 (74 percent) from the field and was 10-13 (77 percent) from the free throw line. In addition to the points from Mills, his 16 rebounds helped Nazareth to a 56-37 advantage in total rebounds. Ford also finished with a double-double as he tallied 14 points and 10 boards. Sophomore
Dan Morse added seven points. Sophomores
Denzell Jackson and
Tomer Nesher combined for five free throws to chip in three points and two points respectively.
Lunsford finished with a team-high 28 points for Keystone, and he also had a team-high nine rebounds. Jesse Longmire scored 16 points, while Miles Dargan also finished in double-figures with 12.
Hilbert 88, ALFRED 87
AU (3-1, E8 0-0) was dished their first loss of the season, 88-87, in OT against Hilbert College in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena Saturday afternoon.
AU fell to the Hilbert Hawks after struggling at the free throw line making 14 of 25 (56.0%) giving AU its first loss of the season. Dalton Walsh led the Saxons with a double-double, scoring 29 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and adding three blocks. Sophomore Tyler Seelman was also a force to be reckoned with, netting 26 points and three assists.
Though the two teams shot near 50% from the field, regulation was not enough to decide a winner. The entire game was a battle with 21 lead changes and 12 ties. The Saxons led the game for the majority of the second half, but the Hawks were able to get ahead with two minutes to go when Malique McCoy broke into the paint for a layup to make the 77-76. The Hawks then added another layup soon after, making the Saxon deficit 79-76. However, Seelman tied the game with a three-pointed nearly five feet behind the arc to knot the game up at 79 all.
In the next possession Hilbert looked to take the lead when Jarame Owens attempted a jumper just outside the paint, but Walsh was there to deny the try and grabbed the rebound. The Saxons then went for a last second play to take the lead, but turned the ball over. The Hawks would get the last chance with four seconds left, but also turned the ball over on a travel. At the end of regulation the game was still tied, 79-79.
Overtime began with solid defense, where neither team was able to score until 3:10 left in the period. Over the course of the next three minutes there were five lead changes, with Walsh leading the Saxons with eight points. Finally, Hilbert's Owens hit a layup with 0:22 on the clock the clinch the victory of Hilbert College.
Senior Tim Pacheco added 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists to the Saxons tally while Eric Adams helped with nine points and four assists. The Saxons shot 31 of 66 (47.0%) from the field while hitting 11-22 (50.0%) from three point range.
Hamilton 67, UTICA 59
The Utica College men's basketball team led at the half, but undefeated Hamilton College outscored the Pioneers 33-21 in the second half on its way to a 67-59 victory in the opening round of the 2014 Hamilton Invitational on Saturday night. Utica's Robert Tutein led the Pioneers with 15 points, including a 3-for-5 effort from 3-point land.
Utica's record moved to 2-3 on the season and the Pioneers will now square off against St. Lawrence on Sunday at 12 p.m. Hamilton improved to 5-0 on the year.
The Pioneers came out of the gates hot and after a Chris Jeffers lay-up 5:56 into the game, Utica found itself with a seven point lead, 17-10, early on. Jeffers finished the day with 13 points and nine rebounds for Utica.
Hamilton responded and tied the contest four times before the end of the 1
st half, until the Pioneers pushed late in the half and took a four point advantage into the locker room.
The Continentals took the lead back from Utica midway through the second half and used a 9-2 run in a span of 3:07 late in the contest to take a nine point advantage with 1:36 to go in the game.
The Pioneers were held to just 7-for-27 shooting in the second half (25.9%), while the Continentals went 13-for-24 (54.2%) in the final 20 minutes. Karl Koster and Joseph Lin each netted a team-best 12 points for the Continentals.
Marty Felicia grabbed eight rebounds for UC, while Conor Maisch totaled 11 points, all of which came in the first half of play. Ian Henderson came off the bench and nailed two 3-pointers for Utica, while Griffin Kelly and Aaron Nevins each added four points.
Medaille 68, ST. JOHN FISHER 67
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team couldn't hold onto its lead that it maintained through the second half, falling 68-67 in the final seconds to visiting Medaille College on Saturday evening.
The Mavericks got within one point on a number of occasions, including 67-66. Fisher committed its 17th turnover when Optimystik Kinard went to inbound the ball to Chaz Lott with five seconds remaining. That led to Jammal Coleman scoring an acrobatic jumper in the lane with 1.4 seconds to play, putting the Mavericks up for good after four second-half tied scores. Coleman finished with 31 points, 11-for-23 from the floor, without any 3-pointers, and 9-for-11 from the line.
With .8 seconds remaining, Fisher put its trust in Alex Sausville, who launched a 3-pointer, just missing off the front of the rim.
With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 1-1 and Medaille earns its first victory of the year.
The Mavericks took an early 4-0 lead and held onto it for the first five minutes of the half. Keegan Ryan put the Cardinals on the board with eight consecutive points for the second straight game. The two teams then tied it up at 16 apiece through 10 minutes.
The remaining minutes in the half saw three lead changes and five tied scores. The Cardinals emerged on top at the end of the half, taking the lead 35-33.
More back-and-forth action continued at the start of the second half with the two teams tied at 42 points with 15 minutes remaining. Neither team, however, would record a made field goal for more than five minutes until Sausville downed back-to-back 3-pointers for his first career points and extend Fisher's biggest lead of the game to 52-43.
The Mavericks returned to action, recording not only their first field goal since the 15:38 mark, but three consecutive baskets, including a traditional three-point play. Medaille closed in on Fisher's now one-point lead (56-55) with 5:30 left.
Kinard led the Cardinals with 20 points including a perfect 5-for-5 from the line and six boards. Ryan finished with 15 points and a team-best eight boards.