Ithaca, Nazareth and Stevens Post Saturday Wins in Men's Basketball
STEVENS 62, Elmira 51
Hoboken, NJ -- Second-year guard
Oladapo Badmos '17 scored 14 points, grabbed five rebounds, and made five steals, all of which were team-highs, as the Elmira College men's basketball team (6-8, 4-3 E8) dropped a 62-51 decision on the road to Stevens Institute of Technology (7-8, 4-3 E8).
Neil Randolph '15 scored 10 points, nine of which came on three-pointers, giving the native of Ireland 159 made career three-pointers, putting him sole possession of fourth place in EC history for three-pointers made in a career. Randolph began today's game in a three-way tie for fourth place in EC history for three-pointers made in a career, but his three buckets this afternoon makes Randolph the second player in as many year to crack the top-4,
Josh Keys '14 being the other.
Badmos and Randolph were Elmira's only two players in double figures this afternoon.
Justin Henderson '16 was close behind with eight points, six of which came from beyond the arc. For Badmos, his double digit effort gives him six consecutive games with 10 or more points while Randolph has posted double figures in five straight games.
Stevens took control of today's game in the first half and never let go. The Ducks opened the day by scoring the game's first seven points and eventually stretched that seven point lead into a 27-9 advantage with 7:16 to play in the first half, the largest lead of the game for Stevens. From there, Elmira would outscore the Ducks 20-to-12, bringing the halftime score to 39-25.
The Ducks hit a three-pointer to open the second half, pushing their lead to 17. However, Elmira would score nine unanswered points to cut the Stevens lead to eight, 42-34, with 13:56 to play in regulation. Stevens' eight point lead marked the first time since the 12:42 mark of the first half that the Ducks did not lead by double digits.
Stevens pushed their lead back to double digits with 9:01 to play, taking a 50-40 lead, and thanks to some poor shooting by both teams, the score remained that way for the next four minutes until Patrick Sabatino hit a pair of free throws, extending the Ducks' lead to 52-40 with 4:58 remaining.
A resilient Elmira squad would go on a mini 6-0 run thanks to a made jumper by
David Borelli '15, a three-pointer by Henderson, and a free throw from Badmos, cutting the Stevens lead to 52-46 with just a shade under three minutes to play.
Three straight points by Ducks extended their lead to nine but a pair of free throws by Badmos trimmed the Stevens lead to 55-48 with a little over two minutes to play. However, this would be as close as the Soaring Eagles would get as Stevens outscored Elmira 7-to-3 in the final minutes of the game, sealing a 62-51 victory.
ITHACA 96, Hartwick 91
ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team pushed its winning streak to three games on Saturday, as the Bombers defeated the Hartwick Hawks by a score of 96-91 at Lambros Arena. The win pushes Ithaca's overall record to 6-8, including a mark of 3-2 in the conference. Hartwick falls to 8-7 overall and 3-3 in the Empire 8.
The Bombers hit 31-of-65 shots in the contest, giving them a shooting percentage of 47.7 from the floor. Ithaca was 9-of-25 from beyond the arc and an impressive 25-of-28 from the charity stripe.
The Bombers had five players score in double figures, led by senior
Keefe Gitto's 23-point effort. Gitto also recorded 13 rebounds in the victory, marking his fifth double-double of the season. Freshman
Marc Chasin recorded 22 points, three assists and three rebounds. Junior
Sam Bevan scored 20 points and paced Ithaca with seven assists. Senior
Max Masucci and freshman
Carroll Rich chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The first half was fairly even all the way through, as neither team was able to grab more than a single-digit lead at any given time. The largest advantage of the frame belonged to Hartwick at six points roughly eight minutes in. Back-to-back three balls from Masucci would close the gap, tying the contest at 15-15 with 11:27 left to go. Hartwick carried a small 41-40 lead into halftime, ending an opening frame that featured 10 ties.
A jump shot from Rich to open the second half once again gave Ithaca the lead, sending the Bombers on an 11-0 run to jump ahead, 51-41. Ithaca dominated the middle of the second half, as the Bombers' lead grew as high as 18 (83-65) with 6:21 remaining in the game. However, Hartwick battled back over the next five minutes, chipping away at the Bomber lead.
The Hawks got to within two points of Ithaca with a minute remaining, but back-to-back free throws from Bevan cushioned the Bombers' advantage. Strong defense and timely free throw shooting secured the 96-91 victory for Ithaca down the stretch, pushing the team's winning streak to three games.
The three-game win streak marks Ithaca's longest since winning five-straight games from Feb. 16 – March 9 at the end of the 2012-13 season.
NAZARETH 67, Utica 61
UTICA, NY - The Utica College men's basketball team had its two game win streak snapped Saturday against visiting Nazareth College, 67-61, in Empire 8 play at the Clark Athletic Center.
The Pioneers, now 6-10 overall, outscored the Golden Flyers 34-25 in the second half but couldn't overcome the 15-point, first half deficit as they dropped to 2-5 in the league. UC returns to the court Tuesday when it heads to Oneonta, NY to face E8 rival Hartwick College (8 p.m.).
The teams battled over the first 10 minutes of play as the stretch featured seven lead changes before Naz began to pull away with nine minutes left in the first half. The Golden Flyers worked a 23-9 run, starting at 9:38, and held a 15 point lead, 42-27, headed into the intermission.
The visitors moved to a 17 point lead to open up the second half before UC put together a push to get back into the contest. The Pioneers managed a 21-8 strut over the next eight minutes to pull within four points, 52-48, with 8:07 remaining in regulation, however they fell short of the comeback as Naz went on to secure the six point victory.
Ten different Pioneers scored in the loss and they were led by senior
Conor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman) who tallied a team-high 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 29 minutes of action. Senior
Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) added 12 points and four boards while
Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) chipped in with 10 points in the defeat.
Nazareth's Mitch Ford led the charge for the visitors with an impressive 38 point, 14 rebound performance to give the Golden Flyers their first win in league play.