Stevens Leads Standings with Key Conference Win

2/8/2014 5:54:00 PM

Stevens (9-3) is now alone atop the E8 standings, one game ahead of Alfred University and Nazareth College who are both currently 7-3. Hartwick College is 8-4 and in fourth place, while St. John Fisher College is in fifth at 7-5.


Stevens 60, Elmira 58 (Box Score)
The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to earn a 60-58 Empire 8 road win at Elmira College Saturday afternoon.
 
The Ducks struggled mightily in the first half with just four made field goals and went into the locker room trailing, 35-18.
 
After going down by as much as 20 points early in the second period, Stevens began to climb its way out of a big-time hole eventually drawing even at 54-all with 3:16 to play when junior forward Patrick Sabatino hit a three-pointer.
 
The two teams traded points on the next two possessions with a pair of Sabatino free throws tying the score at 56 with 1:32 left in the contest.
 
On the next Elmira possession, the Ducks forced a timeout and Sabatino then blocked a shot with less than one minute remaining. Sabatino was fouled after he fought for his own offensive rebound and converted two at the line to make it 58-56 Stevens with 39 seconds left.
 
The Ducks played excellent man-to-man defense the next time down, forcing a traveling violation, and following a timeout, senior guard Andrew Meszaros swished a pair at the line as the Ducks took home a thrilling 60-58 come-from-behind conference win on the road.
 
Stevens was 17-for-41 from the field (41.5 percent) and 3-for-13 from deep (23.1 percent). The Ducks hit 23-of-31 at the line and had eight assists (14 turnovers). The Ducks tallied nine steals as a team but were out-rebounded 29-27.
 
Elmira shot 21-for-50 from the floor (42 percent), 7-for-21 from deep (33.3 percent) and 9-for-13 at the line.
 

St. John Fisher 81, Ithaca 71 (Box Score)
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team used a 10-0 run late in the game to pull past host Ithaca College on Saturday in an Empire 8 Conference matchup.

With the win, Fisher improves to 14-9 overall and 7-5 in the Empire 8.   The victory secures a winning season for the Cardinals.  Fisher has had just one losing season since the 1987-88 campaign.

The Cardinals led for nearly the entire game.   Fisher took its largest lead of the first half at 31-19 with the Cardinals shooting 67% from the floor for the first 11 minutes.  Ithaca, however, closed out the period with a 17-6 run and trailed by just one point at 37-36 at the break.

A 15-foot jumper from freshman Zach Ottaway put the Cardinals up 10 points at 52-42 with 14 minutes left, but the Bombers came storming back.  Sparked by four 3-pointers, Ithaca took its first lead of the game at 57-56 with 11 minutes remaining.   Ithaca led 62-61 with nine minutes left, but Fisher took the lead for good, thanks to a 10-0 run over the next four minutes and never looked back. 


Alfred 105, Hartwick 98 (Box Score)
The Alfred University men's basketball team improved to 16-5 on the season with a 105-98 win over visiting Hartwick, Saturday afternoon. This win moves AU up to 7-3 in the Empire 8 and drops Hartwick down to 8-4.

Freshman guard Tyler Seelman hit a jumper with 5:20 left in the first half that tied the game at 30-30. Alfred had battled back from a 10-point deficit, going on a 15-5 run, but Hartwick headed into halftime on top, 48-42.

In the second half, AU out-rebounded Hartwick, 32 to 18, and improved on first half shooting, going from 38 percent to 48 percent from the field, 23 percent to 33 percent from beyond the arc, and 64 percent to 69 percent from the free throw line.

Alfred established and sustained a 10-point lead with 4:15 left in regulation, helping secure the win as time expired.


Nazareth 74, Houghton 46 (Box Score)
Senior Brad Ford amassed a game-high 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead all players in both categories in Nazareth's 74-46 non-conference victory over Houghton on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Flyers received points from a total of 11 players to overwhelm the Highlanders' defense.

The Golden Flyers surged to a 12-2 lead in the opening 5:12 of the contest to take control of the game from the beginning. Nazareth was able to create layups with drives to the basket and posting up defenders. Brad Ford tallied six of Nazareth's first eight points. He opened the game's scoring with a layup, then added two additional layups around a bucket by Mitch Ford. Sophomore Maurice Mills closed the scoring run with a pair of layups.

With two minutes remaining in the period, senior Scott Hayford extended the Golden Flyers' lead to 18 points, 36-18, with a layup. Nazareth settled for a 36-20 lead at the break. The Golden Flyers held Houghton's offense to 7-24 (29 percent) shooting from the field to build their lead. Nazareth connected on 16-35 (46 percent) of its shots. Brad Ford nearly outscored the entire Highlanders' team in the opening 20 minutes. He finished the half with 17 points on 8-11 shooting.

In the second half, the Golden Flyers' dominance continued as Nazareth held Houghton to five total points through the first 11:22 of the period. The Golden Flyers used the opportunity to stretch its lead to a game-high 31 points, 56-25, with just under nine minutes to play. Consecutive baskets by freshmen Jack Mulcahy and and Josh Gillard capped the 20-5 scoring run to put Nazareth's advantage over 30 points. Houghton closed to within 23 points, but the Highlanders were unable to threaten the Golden Flyers' lead.

SCHOOL	CONF	OVERALL
Stevens	9-3	15-7
Alfred	7-3	16-5
Nazareth	7-3	15-6
Hartwick	8-4	13-9
St. John Fisher	7-5	14-9
Elmira	4-6	9-12
Utica	1-10	6-14
Ithaca	1-10	6-16
Houghton	0-0	3-18
Houghton is an NCAA provisional member and is not eligible for postseason. Games against the Highlanders will not impact conference records/standings.