Utica and Fisher Close 2014 With a Win
UTICA 85, Old Westbury 64
The Utica College men's basketball team knocked down double-digit 3-pointers for the second straight night as the Pioneers cruised to a convincing 85-64 victory over SUNY Old Westbury in their final game of the Woodcliff Tournament hosted by St. John Fisher College on Tuesday afternoon.
Utica's
Conor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman) led the Pioneers with 27 points as he connected on 6-of-10 3-pointers to help UC win its second straight game headed into Empire 8 Conference play back at home Friday night. Maisch has made at least two 3-pointers in every game this season and this is his third performance of the year with at least five 3-pointers. Over the course of two games this week he connected on 9-of-13 shots from behind the arc and led the Pioneers with 42 points.
UC is now 4-5 overall and the Pioneers will host two key conference games against St. John Fisher College on Friday night at home (8 p.m.) and Ithaca College on Saturday (4 p.m.).
Griffin Kelly (Watervliet, NY/Watervliet),
Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) and
Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) each pitched in with ten points for the Pioneers while 12 different players scored at least two points in the victory. Freshman
Dillan Veeder (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie) continued his strong play off the bench with seven points (15 points in the last two games) and
Jawan Simmons (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) added six points, three rebounds and one steal.
The Pioneers used a 23-9 run in the final 10:49 of the first half to take a convincing 19 point advantage into the locker room.
UC never led by fewer than 17 points in the second half and extended their lead to as many as 31 points at the 5:33 marker of the second half when they took a 73-42 lead after a free throw by Simmons. Old Westbury cut the lead to 19 points with 47 seconds left in the game but it proved to be too late as the Pioneers made their free throws down the stretch and earned a 21 point win.
Old Westbury was led by 16 points from Nat Vaugh and 13 points from Stephon Odle.
The Pioneers totaled 19 points off of 15 Panther turnovers and they also added 32 of their 84 points from bench players.
ST. JOHN FISHER 80, Washington & Jefferson 53
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team closed out 2014 with an 80-53 win over visiting Washington & Jefferson College on Tuesday afternoon in the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament.
With the win, Fisher will enter 2015 with a 7-2 overall record and five-game winning streak.
Five players finished in double figures for Fisher, led by
Optimystik Kinard, who scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the first half.
Fisher never trailed in the game. The Cardinals took a double-digit lead with seven minutes left in the first half on a layup from
Charles McVay and held a 37-26 edge at the end of the opening period.
The Presidents chipped away at the Fisher lead, cutting it down to seven at 48-41 with 12:57 left, but Fisher quickly responded with a 16-3 run, capped by a 12-0 spurt with
Adam Ambielli and
Stefan Bock each scoring six points during the pivotal run.
Bock finished the game with 12 points and four steals, while Ambielli added 11 points.
Chaz Lott tallied 12 points, four assists and five rebounds, while
Tyler English scored a career-high 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.
Keegan Ryan led Fisher with 10 rebounds, while
Tyler Hart finished with a team-high five assists.
Centre 86, ELMIRA 60
Hamilton 76, ITHACA 54
Buena Vista 100, HARTWICK 78
Pitt-Bradford 82, ALFRED 73
D'Youville 81, HOUGHTON 79
Fontbonne 79, NAZARETH 70