Alfred, Elmira, Hartwick and Fisher Open E8 Campaign With Wins
ALFRED 65, Stevens 58 (
Box Score)
Despite trailing most of the first half, the Alfred University men's basketball team (7-2, Empire 8 1-0) started 2015 off with a win against Empire 8 rival, Stevens Tech, 65-58.
The Saxons, coming off their second loss of the season, seemed they would meet the same fate to open Empire 8 play in 2015, trailing nearly the entire first half. However, the highly skilled Saxons rebounded to grab a victory in a scrum of a game.
The Saxons were able to get the advantage in points off turnovers (15-8), second chance points (20-13), and bench points (15-11 to scratch out their seventh win of the season. Sophomore Eric Adams put together a wail of a game in the paint ripping down five offensive rebounds and shooting 6-of-8 (75%) from the field (3-of-3 from 3PT range). Dalton Walsh also crashed the offensive boards snatching four of the teams' total 16 offensive rebounds.
To start the game the Saxons came out sluggish, falling behind by ten with over 12 minutes to go in the first. However, a band of AU players barraged the Ducks and got back within striking distance to close the half. Finally, with only 35 seconds to play before the intermission, junior guard Julian came up with two more clutch free throws to put the Saxons up, 27-25, to close the half.
The Saxons came out willing to preserve lead in the second stanza and were proficient in doing so until nearly half way through the period. Stevens' Otis Osman tied the game with a layup and immediately turned around to hit a three-pointer to singlehandedly grab the lead from the Saxons.
Over the course of the next six minutes the game was a back-and-forth affair with the largest lead for either team was two points. Finally, Walsh gained a little breathing room for the Saxons who had a two point lead at the time with an old-fashioned three-point play. However, the Ducks would erase the deficit one more time before time played its course and forced Stevens into fouling the Saxons. A trio of Saxons went 5-of-6 (83.3%) down the stretch to close out the game. The Saxons returned to their winning ways with a 65-58 victory.
Adams finished the game with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and three steals. Walsh also notched a double-double scoring 14 points, 11 rebounds, and adding two blocks. Reinhart and Jerry Kincel both finished with nine points for the Saxons.
ELMIRA 75, Ithaca 60 (
Box Score)
The Elmira College men's basketball team used a 42-point first half to defeat Ithaca College, 75-60, and snap their three-game losing streak. The victory over the Bombers also moved the Soaring Eagles to 1-0 in Empire 8 play, snapping a streak of nine Empire 8 Conference opening game losses.
EC had four players record double-digit points, with
Hayden Harkins '18 recording his second consecutive 17-point game. Harkins hit 5-of-8 from three-point range, setting a new career-high for three-pointers made in a game, and increasing his three-point shooting percentage to an Empire 8-leading 54.5 percent.
Behind Harkins in the scoring column was
Justin Henderson '16, who scored 15 points,
Neil Randolph '15, who scored 14 points, and
Gino Leonardi '16, who scored 10 points. EC's leading scorer, Randolph, missed the previous two games due to an injury, but gutted out the ailment to knock down four three-pointers in 14 minutes off the bench.
David Borelli '15 led the Purple and Gold with seven rebounds, also chipping in six points, while
Oladapo Badmos '17, who was also battling an injury, helped set-up the Soaring Eagle attack with six assists in addition to his eight points in 17 minutes off the bench.
The opening minutes of the first half saw the Bombers take a 6-3 lead, however, a second three-pointer from Harkins evened the score at six to erase Ithaca's largest, and final, lead of the game. Randolph capped-off a 13-3 run with a three-pointer to give EC a 16-9 lead and then hit another three-pointer just minutes later to halt a mini Bomber run and again push Elmira's lead to seven points.
The Soaring Eagles maintained their advantage for the remainder of the first half, stretching their lead to 13 points, 38-25, with 2:02 to play in the opening half. A three-pointer from Ithaca's Max Masucci made it an eight-point game with a minute to play, but Randolph hit his third three-pointer of the half at the buzzer to give EC a 42-31 lead.
Elmira started the second half on a 17-6 run, breaking open a 22-point lead, at 59-37, with 11:55 to play. They continued to hold a double-digit advantage for the next eight-plus minutes, until Ithaca made it a nine-point game with just over three minutes to play. EC, however, proved to be resilient, knocking down 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the 75-60 victory.
HARTWICK 86, Houghton 58 (
Box Score)
Hartwick took the lead at the 18:49 mark of the first half and never relinquished it as it led by as many as 30 points in a convincing 86-58 win over visiting Houghton on Friday night at Lambros Arena. The game marked the Empire 8 Conference opener for both squads. The Hawks improve to 6-4 on the season while the Highlanders fall to 4-5.
The Hawks shot 48% from the floor while knocking down five three-point baskets in the opening half, while holding the visitors to just 26% shooting.
Leading 10-7 with five minutes elapsed in the first period, the Hawks went on an 11-3 run to open up a double-digit margin, 21-10, three minutes later.
Houghton cut it to 12 but Hartwick closed the half on a 10-4 spurt to take a 43-25 advantage heading into the break.
Trevor Norton led a balanced first-half attack with nine points with
Joey Lufkin and
Ryan Simone each registering eight.
A three-point basket from
Jake Sinicki early in the second half pushed the 'Wick lead to 22. The Highlanders twice got it back to 19 shortly thereafter but a
Justin Pratt three-pointer at 16:02 built it back up to 22 and the Hawks never led by less than 20 the rest of the night.
The Hawks closed the contest making half of their shots from the floor (29-for-58). They also made 11 three-pointers, making just under 50% from beyond the arc (47.8%). The Highlanders were held to just 24-of-81 (29.6%) from the floor on the evening.
Norton led four Hawks in double figures with 14 points. He added five rebounds. Lufkin and Simone each finished with 13 points and four rebounds.
Glenn Gavan was also in double digits with 10 points and he grabbed a team-best seven boards.
ST. JOHN FISHER 68, Utica 47 (
Box Score)
The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team defeated host Utica College 68-47 in both teams' conference-opener on Friday night. Fisher has now won six straight games to improve to 8-2 overall.
The Cardinals took an early 10-0 lead in the first four minutes with help from Optimystik Kinard, who tallied four points and two steals in that span. Utica's Conor Maisch snapped Fisher's run with two free throws after a Stefan Bock foul.
The Cardinals soon saw another double-digit lead when Tyler Hart netted a 3-pointer to make it 23-11 with 11 minutes left in the opening half. Fisher continued to add to its lead through the end of the first half, when the Cardinals led 41-23. Keegan Ryan shot 4-for-4 with nine boards in the first half to guide Fisher.
Utica took off at the start of the second half and started closing in on the Cardinals' lead. The Pioneers held the Cardinals to eight points in the first 10 minutes of the half.
The Cardinals stepped up their game to secure the victory. KInard and Hart each netted a 3-pointer and Chaz Lott recorded a steal with two consecutive layups to put Fisher up 64-41 with five minutes left. Fisher held onto their lead until the final buzzer.
Four Cardinals recorded double-digit points with Ryan recording a team-best 16 points and 14 boards. Lott, Kinard and Hart added 11 points apiece.
|
SCHOOL |
CONF |
OVERALL |
|
Alfred |
1-0 |
7-2 |
|
Elmira |
1-0 |
3-5 |
|
Hartwick |
1-0 |
6-4 |
|
St. John Fisher |
1-0 |
8-2 |
|
Houghton |
0-1 |
4-5 |
|
Ithaca |
0-1 |
2-7 |
|
Nazareth |
0-0 |
2-5 |
|
Stevens |
0-1 |
3-6 |
|
Utica |
0-1 |
4-6 |