Alfred Upsets #16 St. John Fisher; Ford Scores 49 for Naz
ALFRED 60, St. John Fisher 59
ALFRED, NY—The Alfred University men's basketball team (16-7, E8 9-5) snapped #16 St. John Fisher College 18-game win streak, and handed the Cardinals their first Empire 8 loss during the 2014-2015 campaign, 60-59, in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena Tuesday evening.
The Saxons capitalized on points off turnovers in the second half to outlast the Cardinals in a down-to-the-wire E8 rivalry matchup, scoring 15 to Fisher's zero. The game was decided by a free throw by senior
Dalton Walsh (Stockton, NY/Cassadega Valley) with a mere three seconds left on the clock. Overall, however, it was a team effort that projected AU to upset the #16 team in the nation.
The game began much like it ended, with both teams grinding out tough points. There was an equivalent retaliation mentality where one team would score and the other would answer with a play of their own. Sophomore
Tyler Seelman (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) was the catalyst for the Saxons in the first half, making three deep-ball shots in the first eight minutes. He would finish the half with nine points.
With only 2:50 left in the first period, junior
Jerry Kincel (Moosic, PA/Riverside) dropped a three to give the Saxons a five-point lead, their largest of the half. However, the Cardinals swooped back to grab the advantage, 29-26, with only four seconds left off an Optimystik Kinard 3PT shot. SJFC would close the half with the three-point margin.
Fisher drew blood first in the second half on a Keegan Ryan layup, which he soon followed up with a free throw on the next play to put the Cardinals up 32-27. The next minute and thirty-four seconds, the Saxons went on a rampage and rattled off an 8-0 run to grasp a lead 36-32 with 16:33 to go in the game. AU would extend this lead further to take their largest lead of the night, 44-36, when senior guard
Ryan Mahon (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) drove hard into the paint and nailed the "and-one" play.
Only 7:31 later, Fisher tied the game at 46 on an old-fashioned three-point play by the Cardinals' Chaz Lott. However, AU's senior ball handler
Tim Pacheco (Mt. Pocono, PA/Pocono Mountain East) answered with a drive the hoop to grab the lead yet again for the Saxons. AU would not relinquish its lead until the final minute.
With 0:23 left on the clock, Lott tied the game on the back of a 6-0 run against the Saxons. With the game tied at 59, head coach Russ Phillips called a timeout with eighteen seconds left to set up a play to seize the lead. AU let the clock run down to approximately ten before beginning the play and looked for the open man. Finally the ball was kicked inside to Walsh who jostled for position in the paint and was fouled with only three seconds left. Walsh would go 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to give AU the 60-59 advantage.
With plenty of time on the clock, Fisher called a timeout to put together a winning play, but it was to no avail. The final heave was no good and the Alfred University student section poured onto the court praising their team after topping the #16 team in the nation, 60-59.
Walsh ended the night with a game-high 18 points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks. The six blocks mark Walsh's career-high in what could be his last game in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena. Seelman added six points to his total in the second half, tallying 15 points on the night—all coming by way of the long ball. Kincel amassed 9 points, while playing impenetrable defense on the other end of the court. Junior
Julian Reinhart (Hornell, NY/Hornell) added eight points to the Saxons' effort, and dished out four assists.
With the win the Saxons jump to second place in the Empire 8 past Hartwick College. AU will look to continue its six-game win streak on the road against Utica College Friday evening. The Saxons will look to avenge the 81-75 loss at home against the Pioneers.
ELMIRA 86, Houghton 76
Houghton, NY -- The Elmira College men's basketball team kept their postseason hopes alive tonight as the Soaring Eagles went on the road to defeat Houghton College, 86-76. With the win, Elmira improves to 10-13 on the year and 7-7 in Empire 8 Conference play, as the Soaring Eagles knocked down a season-high 16 three-pointers for a second straight game.
Justin Henderson '16 set the tone in tonight's game, scoring a career-high 29 points while shooting a blistering 69.2 percent from the floor and 80.0 percent from three-point range. Henderson went 8-for-10 from three-point range, which ties a career-high that he set earlier this season against Clarkson University. Additionally, his eight three-pointers up his season total to 62, putting Henderson in a two-way tie for 10th place for most three-pointers made in a single-season in EC history.
Also having a standout game for the Purple and Gold was Elmira's newest member of the 1,000 point club,
Neil Randolph '15. Randolph finished with 24 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor, including a 4-for-8 mark from distance. For Randolph, his 24 points marks the fifth time in Elmira's last six games that he has gone for 20 or more.
Oladapo Badmos '17 was Elmira's final double digit scorer, as he scored 13 points while making three steals and one block. Senior big man,
David Borelli '15, was three points shy of a double-double as he finished with seven points and a season-high 13 rebounds.
Elmira was in total control of tonight's game from start to finish as only two lead changes occurred, both coming in the first half. Houghton held two leads in the first half, both being one-point leads in the first six minutes of play.
However, Elmira pulled away late in the half thanks to a mini 9-2 run, giving EC a 42-31 lead with 1:34 to play. All nine of Elmira's points during their mini 9-2 run came from beyond the arc as Henderson knocked down a pair of threes while Badmos hit the other.
The Soaring Eagles would eventually go into the halftime break with a 44-35 lead. Elmira's three-point shooting was a key factor in the first half as the Soaring Eagles went 10-for-19 from three-point range. Henderson accounted for 12 of Elmira's 44 first half points, all of which came on three-pointers, while rookie
Hayden Harkins '18 chipped in with nine points, all coming on three-point makes as well.
Elmira led by as many as 17 points in the second half, on two different occasions, but the Highlanders would make things interesting, cutting the EC lead to just seven with 7:20 to play. This would be as close as Houghton would get as Elmira reclaimed their double-digit lead, building it to as many as 13 points before claiming an 86-76 victory.
NAZARETH 95, Ithaca 84
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nazareth junior
Mitch Ford broke the men's basketball single-game scoring record with 49 points Tuesday as the host Golden Flyers defeated Ithaca, 95-84, in Empire 8 Conference action at the Kidera Gymnasium. Senior
Vinny Amuso, playing in his final home game, and sophomore
Dan Morse each produced a career high 14 points, and junior
Nick Nadeau had 11.
Ford made 19 of 33 shots from the field with three three-pointers and went 8-for-10 from the free-throw line to break the mark of 40 points set by Nazareth Hall of Famer Richard Sparks on Dec. 13, 1986. He also set school records for field goals made and field goals attempted in a game with 19 and 33 respectively. Following the game, Ford shared, "It's a nice accomplishment, but it wouldn't mean as much if we didn't win the game. I'm glad we could do it for Vinny's last game. We wanted to make sure we worked hard for him."
The Nazareth victory avenged an earlier defeat and improved the Golden Flyers to 9-14 overall and 5-9 in Empire 8 games. Ithaca, battling for the fourth conference playoff spot, dropped to 11-13 overall and 8-7 in the E8. Ford also grabbed 14 rebounds and had three steals.
Nazareth led 53-46 at halftime and never relinquished the lead in the second half, thanks to Ford, who scored 24 in the first half and 25 in the second. The Golden Flyers' lead grew as large as 13 points late in the second half. The combined 77 points from Ford, Amuso, and Morse helped Nazareth overcome
Maurice Mills' foul trouble. Mills entered the game ranked second on the team averaging 19.1 points per game. He saw nine minutes of action Tuesday evening and had five points and five rebounds before fouling out with 17:39 to play in regulation. After Mills picked up his fifth foul, the Bombers closed to within four points, 65-61, with 10:43 to play. Ford answered on the Golden Flyers' next two possessions with back-to-back offensive rebounds and layups.
In the first half, Ithaca connected on six of its first seven three-point attempts (86 percent) to match Amuso's torrid start. Amuso made four shots from outside the arc in the opening 5:10. As a team, Nazareth missed its first two three-point attempts then connected on 9-15 (60 percent) during the rest of the period. Ford ended the half with a three-point play as he dunked over an Ithaca defender and made the ensuing free throw. It gave the Golden Flyers a 53-46 advantage at the break.
Nazareth's defense forced the Bombers into 16 turnovers during the course of the game. In the second half, Ithaca made only 1-9 three-point attempts (9 percent) to allow the Golden Flyers to maintain their lead. Keefe Gitto had a team-high 20 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Bombers in both categories. Sam Bevan and and Carroll Rich added 16 points and 15 points, respectively.