Nazareth's Broderick Tallies Win #300; Utica, Ithaca, St. John Fisher also Win
NAZARETH 77, Elmira 69
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth defeated visiting Elmira 77-69 in a men's Empire 8 Conference basketball game on Tuesday evening, which gave Golden Flyers' head coach
Kevin Broderick his 300th career victory. The Golden Flyers had four players finish in double-digits led by junior
Nick Nadeau, who had a game-high 24 points. Classmate
Mitch Ford tallied 18 points, while junior
Maurice Mills and
Jack Mulcahy each scored 11 points apiece.
Tuesday's win is Broderick's his 91st victory at Nazareth, where he holds a 91-56 record for a .619 winning percentage. At Oswego, Broderick had a 209-150 record for a .582 percentage in 13 years of coaching. Broderick has only three seasons with losing records, and his last season with a losing record was in 2000-01.
With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 6-9 overall and 2-4 in conference games. Following the loss, the Soaring Eagles fall to 6-9 overall and 4-4 in Empire 8 contests.
Nazareth trailed only once against Elmira, 11-9, 4:18 into the the first half. Junior
Steven Soltysik connected on a three-pointer on the Golden Flyers' next possession to reclaim Nazareth's lead. The Golden Flyers stretched their lead to 17 points, 38-21, with 3:23 to play in the opening period following a pair of free throws by sophomore
Colin McGlynn. The free throws capped a 29-10 scoring run that spanned over 13 minutes. The Golden Flyers extended their lead with consistent three-point shooting. Mulcahy hit two shots from outside the arc, while Nadeau and Morse each connected on one. Elmira scored the final five points of the first half to cut the Nazareth lead to 12 points at the break. In the opening 20 minutes, the Golden Flyers' defense held the Eagles to under 38 percent shooting (9-24) while converting almost 55 percent (13-24) of their shots to build their lead.
The Golden Flyers maintained a multiple-possession lead throughout the second half. The closest Elmira reached was 50-46, with 13:11 to play in regulation. Within the next four minutes, however, Nazareth reclaimed an 11-point lead. Nadeau tallied four consecutive points on a three-pointer and free throw to start the scoring run. Mulcahy and Mills followed with a shot from outside the arc and layup, respectively.
In the closing minutes, Soaring Eagles cut their deficit was 66-61 with 2:30 to play in regulation. After the three-pointer by Neil Randolph brought Elmira within five points, Ford responded with a layup on Nazareth's next possession, which was followed by a pair of free throws and a three-point bucket by Nadeau.
In the final minute, the Eagles crawled back to within six points, 73-67, following a three by Oladapo Badmos, but the Golden Flyers secured the victory with a layup by Mills and a free throw apiece by Mills and Nadeau.
Three-point shooting was significant for Nazareth, who connected on 60 percent (12-20) of its shots from outside the arc. Nadeau finished 6-9 on three-point attempts while Mulcahy was 3-6, Soltysik was 2-2, and
Dan Morse was 1-1. Mills' game-high 17 rebounds, which included six offensive boards, also provided the Golden Flyers with extra possessions. Nazareth recorded a 35-29 advantage on the glass.
Randolph and Badmos combined for 42 of the Soaring Eagles' points, as they amassed 23 and 19 points, respectively.
UTICA 90, Hartwick 83
ONEONTA, NY - Five different Pioneers scored in double figures as the Utica College men's basketball team earned a key 90-83 Empire 8 Conference victory over host Hartwick College on Tuesday night. Senior point guard
Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius) propelled himself into seventh on the College's all-time scoring list after his team-high 21 point effort. Nevins now has 1,093 career points.
Utica has now won three of its last four games and improved to 7-10 overall and 3-5 in Empire 8 play. Hartwick dropped its fourth straight contest as its record moved to 8-8 overall and 3-4 in conference play.
Utica's
Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half, while senior
Conor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman) also had a big second half netting 13 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes. Utica shot 61.5% from the floor in the second half, including a 9-for-13 effort from behind the arc.
The score was knotted at 17-17 with 6:52 to go in the first half until the Pioneers used a 19-8 run in the next 6:34 to close out the first half with a double digit lead, 38-28.
Utica took its largest lead of the game early in the second half, 43-31, but the home team responded quickly with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to four points with 16:50 to go. UC pushed its lead back to eight points, 53-45, after a 3-pointer from Maisch, but Hartwick answered once again with a 10-2 run to tie the score at 55-55 with 11:37 left in regulation.
Utica then went on a 13-4 run in the next 1:51 of play to earn a nine point advantage with 8:46 left. Hartwick cut Utica's lead to as few as four points with 2:20 remaining but it proved to be too late as the Pioneers made five clutch free throws down the stretch and earned the seven point victory.
Senior forward
Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) netted 11 points and grabbed five rebounds for Utica. Jeffers now needs 53 more points to become the 15th player in program-history to net 1,000 career points.
Freshman forward
Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) posted 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, while senior guard
Rich Smith (Albany, NY/La Salle Institute) added a season-high seven points on 2-of-3 shooting from the floor.
Hartwick's Matt Wilson led the way for the Hawks with 27 points and 12 rebounds, while Jake Sinicki added 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Hawks.
The Pioneers bench came to play as UC's reserves outscored the Hawks bench 43-19 on the afternoon. Utica also added 14 points off of turnovers, 12 of which came in the first half.
ST. JOHN FISHER 77, Alfred 46
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The St. John Fisher College men's basketball team won its 11thstraight game on Tuesday night, as the Cardinals came through with a 77-46 win over visiting Alfred University in an Empire 8 Conference matchup.
With the win, Fisher improves to 13-2 overall and 6-0 in the Empire 8, while Saxons fall to 10-5 and 4-3, respectively.
Fisher, currently receiving votes in the D3hoops.com national poll, is enjoying its longest winning streak since the 2006-2007 season and is off to its best start since the 2008-2009 campaign.
The Cardinals shot 52% from the floor for the game and held Alfred, the Empire 8's top offense going into the game, to just 46 points on 17-of-54 (31.5%) shooting.
The Cardinals never trailed in the contest. Fisher took a double-digit lead at 17-5 on a 3-pointer from
Tyler Hart seven minutes into the game and kept a double-digit lead for the rest of the contest.
Fisher led 36-20 at the half and used an 18-4 run over the opening seven minutes of the second half to pull away.
Keegan Ryan led his seventh double-double of the year, totaling 17 boards and 13 points. Senior
Optimystik Kinard tallied 13 points, four assists and four blocked shots, while classmate
Adam Ambielli finished with 11 points.
Hart and
Stefan Bock each scored nine points in the win as well.
Chaz Lott finished with six rebounds, five assists and four points, while Joseph Marchione made his first career field goal on a beautiful tip-in.
ITHACA 89, Houghton 74
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team pushed its winning streak to four games with an 89-74 win over Houghton on Tuesday night at Ben Light Gymnasium. The Bombers' overall record improves to 7-8, with a mark of 4-2 in the conference. The win pushes Ithaca to second place in the Empire 8, trailing only St. John Fisher (6-0 E8). Houghton falls to 5-10 overall and 1-6 in conference play.
The Bombers shot 53.7 percent from the floor, going 29-of-54 in the victory. Ithaca hit 10-of-23 shots from beyond the arc, and 21-of-37 shots from the free throw line. Ithaca recorded 38 points in the paint, edging out the Highlanders' total of 34.
Junior
Sam Bevan paced the Bombers with 20 points in the start. Bevan also chipped in a team-high six assists and tied for the team lead with seven rebounds. Freshmen
Marc Chasin and
Carroll Rich both contributed 14 points in the start, while senior
Max Masucci rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points in 30 minutes of work. Junior
Brad Johanson chipped in with nine points and seven boards in reserve.
After trailing the Highlanders for the first 2:30 of play in the opening half, the Bombers grabbed their first lead on a three pointer from Rich to put Ithaca ahead, 9-8.
Ithaca outscored Houghton 21-10 over the next eight minutes, as the Bombers took the game's first-double digit advantage. Another shot from beyond the arc from Bevan capped the scoring stretch, putting the Bombers up by a score of 30-18 with just over nine minutes left in the first. Ithaca's momentum carried to the break, as Ithaca took a 47-37 lead into halftime.
Houghton chipped away at the deficit early in the second, cutting the Bombers' lead to nine on several occasions. However, Ithaca dominated the middle of the frame, extending the lead to 22 points (79-57) with just five minutes remaining. The Bombers rolled through the remainder of the contest, securing the 89-74 conference victory.