Naz, Alfred, St. John Fisher, Ithaca Claim E8 Wins in Men's Basketball
ST. JOHN FISHER 69, Hartwick 68
ONEONTA, N.Y. -- Junior
Chaz Lott converted a go-ahead layup as time expired to push the nationally-ranked Cardinals past Hartwick College, 69-68, Friday night in Oneonta, NY.
Fisher, ranked No. 16 nationally, improves to 21-3 overall and 14-1 in Empire 8 play, while Hartwick falls to 14-10, 9-6.
After leading, or having a share of the lead for the entire second half, Hartwick converted a layup off a turnover with :06 seconds remaining to go ahead 68-67.
Following the bucket, Fisher advanced the ball over midcourt before calling a timeout with :03 seconds to play. After inbounding the ball to
Tyler Hart at the top of the 3-point arc, Lott immediately cut to the basket for a buzzer-beating layup in traffic to send the Cardinals to victory.
In the first half, Hartwick held the lead until the closing moments. The Hawks had their largest lead of the game at 26-19 with 6:14 on the clock.
Fisher closed the half strong on a 6-0 run, including four points from
Keegan Ryan, to take a 34-33 advantage into the break.
Both teams exchanged blow-for-blow in the opening moments of the second half leading to the score being locked at 45 with 13 minutes to play. Fisher, however, used an 18-5 run in nearly a five minute span, capped off by a 3-pointer from
Charles McVay at the 8:45 mark to take its largest lead of the game at 63-50.
Fisher went cold from the field not scoring another field goal until just over a minute remaining as Lott converted a layup to break a tie at 65.
Joey Lufkin converted one of two free throws with under a minute to play to draw within one point before the Hawks held on defense for the go-ahead layup with :06 seconds to play.
Ryan led Fisher with 20 points and seven rebounds. Lott and
Adam Ambielli each chipped in three steals to go along with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
NAZARETH 80, Stevens 71
HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Visiting Nazareth outscored Stevens 37-19 over the final 10:34 of the first half and first 4:17 of the second half to stretch its 14-12 lead into an overwhelming 51-31 advantage. The Golden Flyers went on to defeat the Ducks 80-71 in the men's Empire 8 Conference basketball game. Junior
Mitch Ford scored a game-high 24 points as he connected on nearly 47 percent of his shots (7-15). Classmates
Nick Nadeau and
Maurice Mills tallied 18 points and 13 points, respectively, while sophomore
Dan Morse added 14 points. Mills also collected a game-high 15 rebounds.
With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 10-14 overall and 6-9 in Empire 8 games. Following the loss, the Ducks fall to 11-13 overall and 7-8 in conference games.
Leading 14-12 midway through the first, Mills ignited a 10-4 run with a two-point jumper. It was followed by a three-point basket by senior
Vinny Amuso. Nadeau added a jumper, then Mills capped the run with a three-point play. Stevens trimmed its deficit to 24-21, however, the Golden Flyers used a 9-0 run to take their first double-digit lead of the game with roughly four minutes to play in the first period. Junior
Steven Soltysik started the run with a three-pointer, which was followed by a pair of layups by Nadeau that were sandwiched around a jumper by sophomore
Colin McGlynn. McGlynn and Nadeau scored the last two baskets of the half to give the Golden Flyers a 41-25 lead at the break. Nadeau's bucket came in the final seconds before the buzzer sounded.
Nadeau scored the first four points of the second half to extend Nazareth's lead to 20 points. Stevens closed to within seven points twice in the final 5:02, but the Golden Flyers responded with a layup from Mills and a free throw by Nadeau to reclaim its 10-point lead. Nazareth made 72 percent (23-32) of its free throws, including 13 in the final two minutes of regulation, to secure the victory. Morse connected on seven of the free throws during the final minutes.
The Golden Flyers maintained their lead for over 38 minutes of the game. Nazareth finished with making over 47 percent (27-57) of their shots while holding the Ducks to 35 percent (25-71).
Nazareth is in action again on Saturday when the Golden Flyers close the regular season at Hartwick.
ALFRED 98, Utica 84
UTICA, NY—The Alfred University Saxons carried their momentum from their massive win Tuesday into tonight's game in Utica where they topped the Pioneers of Utica College, 98-84, in the Harold T. Clark Athletic Center.
AU capitalized on a dominant first half to drive home their seventh win in row Friday evening. Senior forward
Dalton Walsh (Stockton, NY/Cassadega Valley) was the facilitator for the Saxons lead in the first half, quickly getting to 20 points by the teams hit the locker room for the first time. The AU bench was also a major factor in the game, contributing 40 points to Utica's 28.
It was "off to the races" for the Saxons from the opening jump. AU opened the game with a 17-6 run over the course of six minutes. Only minutes later the Saxons had almost doubled their lead when Walsh hit one of his three long balls to get the lead to 18 with only 7:44 to go in the half. By the intermission AU was up 55-39, and just had to maintain in the second half.
Utica shot very well in the first half hitting 14-of-27 (51.9%) shots, but the Saxons were not to be outdone, shooting 21-of-33 (63.6%) from the field. Sophomore
Tyler Seelman (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) shot 66.6% for AU in the first half, scoring 12 points.
In the second half of the game both teams were on fire, but the Saxons were able to outlast the Pioneers, searching for their 11th win of the 2014-2015 campaign. Senior guard
Ryan Mahon (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) spearheaded the Saxon attack after the intermission with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting. He also dished out four assists in 17 minutes of play. Sophomore
Eric Adams (Lebanon, NJ/Hunterdon Central) also turned it on in during the latter half of the game with eight points and grabbed five rebounds.
Despite being outscored in the second half (45-43), AU outshot the Pioneers 53.1% to 48.1% and carried out their 17th win of the season. Overall the Saxons are 17-7 and they reached double-digit wins in the Empire 8 at 10-5.
Walsh ended the night with 22 points and six rebounds in only 20 minutes of play. Seelman also had a light night with 27 minutes, but still notched 14 points for the Saxons. Adams matched Seelman's 14 points, but ripped down six rebounds. Senior shooting specialist
Mike Snyder (Pulaski, NY/Pulaski) also reach double-digits with 12 points, with all points coming from behind the arc.
AU returns to action tomorrow for its regular season finale against Elmira College on the road at 4PM.
ITHACA 83, Elmira 74
Elmira, NY -- A late rally by the Elmira College men's basketball team came up short as the visiting Bombers of Ithaca College downed the Soaring Eagles, 83-74. EC, unfortunately, will not see their season extended as tonight's loss eliminated them from Empire 8 playoff contention.
Leading the charge for the Soaring Eagles was
Neil Randolph'15, who scored 18 points in 38 minutes of action. He also pulled down seven rebounds and hit two three pointers, increasing his season total to 63. That moves Randolph into ninth place on Elmira's single-season list for made three-pointers. He also improved his career made three-pointer total to 193, which gives the senior sole possession of third place in Elmira College history for successful three-point attempts.
Randolph was one of four Elmira players in double-figures, the others being
Oladapo Badmos'17,
Gino Leonardi'16, and
David Borelli'15. Badmos had 14 points and four rebounds, Leonardi had a stat-line of 13 points, two rebounds, and two steals, while Borelli had a near double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down nine rebounds in the loss.
The Purple and Gold had been on fire from three-point range during their three-game winning streak, including back-to-back games with 16 made three-pointers, however, the Bombers kept EC in check from distance, limiting the Soaring Eagles to just 3-of-12 from behind the arc. Three-point shooting and free throw proved to be a difference in tonight's game as Ithaca hit six more three-pointers and nine more free throws than Elmira. The Bombers also shot 42.9 percent from distance, compared to EC's 25.0 percent, and attempted 25 free throws, compared to just 14 for the Soaring Eagles.
It was a closely-contested first half, with neither team leading by more than six points. After a back-and-forth start to the game, which featured four lead changes and two ties, Ithaca used a mini 6-0 run to take a 21-15 lead with 8:18 to play. EC used an 8-2 run of their own to tie the game at 23, but the Bombers regained a six-point lead, 30-24, just over a minute later. Ithaca held onto their lead for the remainder of the half, but a short burst in the final two minutes led to Elmira trailing by just two, 35-33, at the break.
The Soaring Eagles came out strong in the second half and used an 11-5 run take a 44-40 lead with 16:31 on the clock. Ithaca, however, responded with a pair of Sam Bevan three-pointers, which sandwiched one of two Randolph threes, to make it a 47-46 game. The score remained tight for much of the next 10 minutes of gameplay, but the Bombers began to pull away with just over six minutes left to play.
Ithaca used a 7-0 run, which spanned over two minutes of game time, to break open a 10-point lead. Elmira tried to answer on several occasions and cut it to just five, 77-72, with 50 seconds remaining, but the Bombers went 6-of-8 from the free throw line in the final 50 seconds to seal EC's fate.