Sharp Shooting Leads to Wins for Hawks, Cardinals and Pioneers

Sharp Shooting Leads to Wins for Hawks, Cardinals and Pioneers

Bookmark and Share

HARTWICK 84, Albright 75
Junior Trevor Norton (Mullica Hill, NJ/Ursinus College) poured in a career-high 30 points, including 20 in the second half when the Hawks pulled away for an 84-75 victory over the host school at the Albright Holiday Tournament at the Bollman Center in Reading, PA on Monday. Hartwick improves to 5-3 overall and has won four of its last five games.
           
The Hawks advance to tomorrow's championship game against Buena Vista which won 114-107 in triple overtime over Delaware Valley in the opening game of the tournament.
           
Norton shot 10-of-16 from the floor and hit five three-pointers. He added five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore Joey Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) contributed 20 points on the night and freshman Jake Sinicki (Endicott, NY/Maine-Endwell) was also in double figures with 16 points.
           
The Hawks trailed by as many as seven points in the second half before a huge swing gave them the lead for good. A DeJuan Smith layup with 12:30 left in the game put the Lions up 59-52. Sinicki scored the next four points and Norton tacked on the next five in a 9-0 run as Hartwick grabbed the advantage, 61-59, less than three minutes later.
           
After two tie scores and two lead changes, Norton would put the Hawks up for good, 65-64, with 7:26 left in the contest. Two straight Lufkin layups increased the margin to five and Norton drained a three-pointer and added a free throw in a 10-0 Hartwick spurt which made the lead nine points, 73-64. The Lions trimmed the lead to five twice in the final two minutes but Hartwick shot 6-of-8 from the line to close out the victory.
           
In total, the game saw 17 lead changes and 10 tie scores. The Hawks shot 47.5% (29-of-61) from the floor and hit 12 three-pointers. Albright shot 48.4% (30-of-62) and out-rebounded the Hawks 38-31.
           
Sinicki missed a double-double by just one rebound as he tied for a game-high with nine. Joe Krong (Amsterdam, NY/Franklin & Marshall College) grabbed seven rebounds and scored six points. Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown) added six boards.

ST. JOHN FISHER 67, Old Westbury 37
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team jumped out to a 29-10 halftime-lead and cruised to a 67-37 win over visiting SUNY Old Westbury on Monday night in the opening round of the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament.  Fisher will now play Washington & Jefferson College at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

At halftime of the game, the College honored distinguished staff member Ben Thomas, who has served as the College's golf course superintendent and game-day manager for nearly every sport since 1987.

Keegan Ryan led the way for Fisher (6-2), tallying 21 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.   It is his fourth double-double of the year, and the 10th in the sophomore's career.

Fisher took control of the game from the opening tip.   Adam Ambielli drained a 3-pointer on the game's opening possession, as Fisher's scored the game's first 10 points.   The Cardinals used a stifling defense in the first half, allowing the Panthers to connect on just 4-of-33 (12.1%) field goals.

Fisher kept in the momentum for the second half as well, as the Cardinals shot 52.2% from the floor over the final 20 minutes, while knocking down 4-of-9 3-pointers.

Tyler Hart came off the bench and finished with 10 points.   Ambielli added seven points, while Zach Ottaway and Chaz Lott each scored six.

Optimystik Kinard tallied six rebounds and four blocked shots.

UTICA 78, Washintong & Jefferson 60
The Utica College men's basketball team jumped out to a 27-16 lead in the first 10:47 of the game and never looked back as the Pioneers went on to defeat Washington & Jefferson 78-60 in the opening game of the Woodcliff Tournament hosted by St. John Fisher College on Monday afternoon. The Pioneers (3-5), who snapped a three game losing streak with the win, will play SUNY Old Westbury tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Three different Pioneers scored in double figures including Conor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman) (15), Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) (13) and Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) (10).  Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) added eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds in the victory.  Utica shot 55% (11-for-20) from 3-point range to earn the win.

Freshman Dillan Veeder (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie) netted a career-high eight points (2-for-3 from 3-point range), while Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) added six points and five assists. Nevins now needs 18 points to crack 1,000 for his career.  He also needs two more assists to move into fifth on the College's all-time list. 

Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) is now just the second player in school-history to compile over 700 career rebounds.

Sophomore Agim Hamiti (Prishtina, Kosovo/Syracuse Academy of Science) totaled seven points and pulled in four rebounds for Utica, while Griffin Kelly (Watervliet, NY/Watervliet), Ian Henderson(Chateaugay, NY/Chateaugay) and Rich Smith (Albany, NY/La Salle Institute) scored three points apiece.

Utica led by just three points, 34-31, with 1:36 left in the first half, but the Pioneers used an 8-0 run late in the half to earn a 42-33 lead as the first half clock expired.

The Pioneers led by five in the opening minutes of the second half and used a 15-0 run to earn a convincing 18 point lead, 58-40, with 12:17 left in the contest. The Pioneers held at least a 16 point lead for the remainder for the game to preserve the victory. 

Mike Resnik totaled a game-high 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Presidents, while Mitch Lochner added 13 points and five rebounds.

Utica's depth off the bench proved to be too much for W & J as the Pioneers' bench outscored W & J's bench 39-7 on the afternoon.

UC finished the day shooting 26-for-54 from the floor and also went 15-for-19 from the charity stripe.


Washington & Lee 86, ELMIRA 55
Playing in their first game in three weeks, the Elmira College men's basketball team (2-4) fell in the opening game of the Washington and Lee Tournament to the host, Washington and Lee University (3-7), 86-55.  Elmira guard, Justin Henderson '16, led the Soaring Eagles with 12 points, his third double-digit scoring performance of the year.
 
The Generals of Washington and Lee opened today's game by taking a 9-2 lead but the Soaring Eagles answered with a 13-3 run to take a 15-12 lead with 13:40 to play in the first half.  Elmira's run was a result of precision shooting from beyond the arc as the Soaring Eagles went 3-for-4 from three-point range, with makes by Henderson, Gino Leonardi '16, and Hayden Harkins '18. 
 
Elmira's 15-12 lead would not last for long as the Generals went on a run of their own, a 13-0 run, that gave Washington and Lee a 25-15 lead with 9:50 to play in the first half.  EC's Justin Ruback '18 put an end to the run with made three-point basket but the Generals would extend their lead to 33-20 with 6:31 to play.
 
The Soaring Eagles would make it a two possession game over the next three minutes as Elmira pieced together a mini 9-2 run, cutting the Washington and Lee lead to 35-29 with 3:46 remaining in the half.  Unfortunately for Elmira, the Generals would go on a 10-1 run to claim their largest lead of the half, 45-30, with just eight second remaining.  With time expiring, Oladapo Badmos '17 would hit a deep three-pointer at the buzzer as the Purple and Gold entered the halftime break trailing, 45-33.
 
In the second half, Elmira would struggle to find their shooting touch as the Soaring Eagles went 6-for-23 from the floor.  EC's shooting woes were compounded by Washington and Lee's successful shooting as the Generals made 18-of-32 shots, allowing the tournament host to march away with an 86-55 victory.
 
Henderson was Elmira's lone double-digit scorer with 12 points but Harkins and Leonardi were not far behind with nine and eight points, respectively.

Illinois Wesleyan 84, NAZARETH 41
Playing for the first time in 23 days, the Nazareth men's basketball returned to the hardwood against a formidable foe Monday as the Golden Flyers dropped a tough non-conference game to ninth-ranked Illinois Wesleyan, 84-41. The game was played as part of the Thrivent Financial Tournament hosted by Cal Lutheran at the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center.

Nazareth, playing its first game since Dec. 6, is 2-4 overall after falling to the Titans, ranked ninth nationally in the most recent top 25 poll from d3hoops.com. Illinois Wesleyan, of Bloomington, Ill. is 8-2 overall.
Nazareth plays again Tuesday at 9 p.m. eastern time in the tournament consolation game against Fontbonne of St. Louis, Mo. Fontbonne is 2-7 overall after losing to host Cal Lutheran, 82-60, in Monday's opening game.

Nazareth played without junior captain Mitch Ford, who ranks second on the team in scoring (12.5 ppg.) and rebounding (5.0 rpg.). He underwent knee surgery last week and will be out until at least mid-January.
The Golden Flyers had a difficult time against the Titans, who were equally efficient offensively and defensively. Utilizing supreme offensive balance, 12 different players scored baskets for the Titans with nine different players accounting for the team's 14 three-point baskets. The Titans made 34 of 66 shots (51.5 percent) from the field overall, including 14 of 26 three-pointers (53.8 percent).

lllinois Wesleyan was in control from the outset and bolted to a 43-15 halftime lead that continued to grow in the second half. Nazareth junior Nick Nadeau led the Golden Flyers with 13 points. Junior Maurice Mills and sophomores Dan Morse and Denzell Jackson each scored seven points. Jackson and Mills each collected six rebounds.