Stevens and Hartwick Remain Atop Standings
Hartwick 77, St. John Fisher 65 (Box Score)
Trailing by nine points after the first half, the Hartwick men's basketball team rallied by outscoring visiting St. John Fisher 46-25 in the second stanza enroute to a 77-65 win on Saturday afternoon at Lambros Arena. The Hawks got hot in the second period as they hit 59.3% (16-of-27) of their shots and held Fisher to just under 38% (11-of-29).
The Cardinals took a big 15-3 lead at 15:49 early in the first half and seemed poised to run away with the game. 'Wick would chip away at the Cardinal lead with a 10-2 run and trailed only by four points, 17-13, at 12:04. A 12-1 Fisher run restored the double-digit advantage to the Cardinals as they led 29-14 with 7:37 showing on the game clock.
Fisher still led by 15 points, 38-23, with 3:09 to play in the half. Hartwick again would knock down the lead as Joey Lufkin scored all eight of Hartwick's points in the last 2:57 as the Cardinals went into halftime with a 40-31 lead. The Cardinals shot 56% (14-of-25) from the floor in the first frame to under 30% (8-of-27) for the Hawks.
Hartwick regrouped in the second half as it mounted a comeback. It was an 11-point lead for St. John Fisher, 49-38, after a three-point shot from Optimystik Kinard. From there, 'Wick would go on a 13-0 run to take its first lead of day, 51-49, at 13:42.
Two ties and three lead changes followed in just over three minutes of game time. The Cardinals broke a 54-54 deadlock at 10:06 on a trey from Adam Ambielli. A layup from Keegan Ryan followed at 9:08 as Fisher went ahead 59-54. A 23-5 'Wick run spanning over eight and a half minutes of clock time was the difference maker as the Hawks had their biggest lead of the game, 77-63, with 34 seconds remaining to play to come away with the win.
Stevens 73, Nazareth 69 (
Box Score)
The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team improved to 14-5 overall and 8-2 in the conference with a 73-69 win over Nazareth College Saturday evening in an Empire 8 game at the Canavan Arena.
With the Ducks holding a 62-54 lead with 8:58 left, the Golden Flyers were able to get within two points behind a 6-0 spurt, and eventually took a 65-64 lead at the 2:25 mark when senior guard Scott Hayford connected on a big three-pointer. Two free throws from senior guard Jack Giles gave the guests a three-point lead with just 1:03 remaining.
On the next Ducks' possession, senior guard
Phillip DeSeignora came around a screen set by senior guard
Andrew Meszaros and drilled a three from wing to tie the game at 67-all with 43 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession, Nazareth pushed the ball up the floor but DeSeignora was able to come up with a steal, and Meszaros hit a pair at the line to give Stevens the 69-67 lead.
A missed jumper and rebound from senior guard
Matt Skrelja forced Naz to foul, and Skrelja hit two at the line to put the Ducks up four with 15 seconds left. Nazareth scored on its next possession, but two made free throws from sophomore guard
Evan Klimchak sealed the gritty win for the Ducks who remained in a first-place tie with Hartwick College in the Empire 8 standings at 8-2.
Elmira 76, Utica 65 (
Box Score)
With eight assists this afternoon, to go along with the 10 he dissed out yesterday,
Derrick Vogel '14 of the Elmira College men's basketball team (7-11, 2-5 E8) moved into 10th place in college history for career assists (261) as the Soaring Eagles defeated Utica College (6-13, 1-9 E8), 76-65.
Utica had the early advantage in today's game, holding a slim lead for the first nine minutes of play. However, trailing 15-12, the Soaring Eagles would use a 20-5 run over the next six minutes to take a convincing 32-20 lead, Elmira's largest of the game. During that stretch, five different EC players recorded points, including Chris Cassidy, who accounted for six of Elmira's 20 points.
Elmira's 12 point lead would eventually turn into a 36-30 halftime advantage. Credit Cassidy and Neil Randolph with igniting the Soaring Eagles' offense as the duo combined for 23 of Elmira's 36 first half points.
In the second half, things would get tight as the Pioneers clawed their way to within two points of the Soaring Eagles, 61-59, with 7:00 to play. However, Elmira would use a 15-6 run to successfully close out Utica College, 76-65. Both Randolph and Cassidy played large roles in the final seven minutes, scoring six points apiece, with all six of Randolph's coming from behind the arc.
|
SCHOOL |
CONF |
OVERALL |
|
Stevens |
8-2 |
14-5 |
|
Hartwick |
8-2 |
13-7 |
|
Alfred |
5-2 |
14-4 |
|
Nazareth |
6-3 |
13-6 |
|
St. John Fisher |
5-5 |
11-9 |
|
Elmira |
2-5 |
7-11 |
|
Ithaca |
1-8 |
5-14 |
|
Utica |
1-9 |
6-13 |
|
Houghton |
0-0 |
3-15 |
|
Houghton is an NCAA provisional member and is not eligible for postseason. Games against the Highlanders will not impact conference records/standings.
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