Stowe and Ryan Lead Teams to Victory
HOUGHTON 80, Alfred State 69
Houghton men's basketball used a strong finish to take an 80-69 victory over Alfred State on Saturday.
The Highlanders got 19 first-half points from Johnathan Stowe as the hosts went into the locker room with a 13 point lead (47-34). Houghton's tenacious full-court press forced 18 Alfred State turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, many resulting in easy buckets for Stowe and his teammates, who pushed the lead to as many as 16 late in the half. The sophomore also was perfect on three 3-point attempts.
Houghton extended the lead to 15 to start the second half, but the Pioneers would not fold and used an 11-2 run to trim the deficit to six points. Houghton responded with their own 11-4 run to regain a 13 point advantage, but again the Pioneers were equal to the task. The visitors scored 11 straight to pull to 64-62 with 5:03 remaining. After an exchange of buckets and the Highlanders clinging to a 67-64 lead, Stowe converted four straight free throws, then Brennen Campbell hit two from the charity stripe, then nailed a three to give the Highlanders a comfortable 76-64 lead with 2:34 remaining. The teams had another exchange of buckets over the next 40 seconds, but neither team would score over the final 1:41 of the contest.
Stowe finished with a career-high 30 points and added nine rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Tyler McQuaid added 19 points and seven boards. Phil Pellegrino finished with eight points.
The Highlanders forced 30 turnovers on the night, which made up for a 36 percent shooting performance from the field.
ST. JOHN FISHER 87, Buffalo State 74
Keegan Ryan and
Charles McVay guided the St. John Fisher College men's basketball team to an 87-74 victory over host Buffalo State College Saturday.
Ryan finished with a career-high 26 points and five boards, while McVay added a season-best 15 points and career-best 10 rebounds.
The Cardinals maintained the lead from the get-go, making it a 24-15 game within the first 10 minutes
Ryan made an immediate impact, scoring nine of Fisher's points in that time. McVay also paced the Cardinals' offense, tallying 10 points in the first half.
The Bengals forced a few Fisher turnovers and made their way back to be within four points with 3:45 left in the first half. The Cardinals, however, continued to lead the way, taking a 41-34 lead at halftime.
Despite opening the second half with a traditional three-point play, Buffalo State couldn't catch up to the Cardinals. Fisher's biggest lead (16 points) came at 2:46.
Zach Ottaway shot 3-for-3 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line to record his first points of the season and a career-high five rebounds.
Optimystik Kinard added 17 points and five boards to pace the offense.