Nazareth, Elmira, Alfred Earn Victories in Tuesday Men's Action
ELMIRA 62, Fredonia 56
FREDONIA, NY -- The Elmira College men's basketball team snapped their four-game losing streak with a 62-56 victory at Fredonia State.
Neil Randolph'15 led the charge for the Soaring Eagles, tallying a season-high 26 points behind seven made three-pointers.
Randolph's 26 points increased his career total 997, leaving him just three points shy of joining the 1,000-point club. He also added six rebounds, two of which came on the offensive end, to his 26 points. Randolph was the only Elmira player in double-figures, but both
Justin Henderson'16 and
Gino Leonardi'16 were next in the scoring column with nine points apiece.
All of Henderson's points came from behind the three-point line, while Leonardi was effective, shooting 5-of-6, from the charity stripe. Leonardi also tallied eight assists, compared to just one turnover in the contest. In total, EC assisted on 15 of 21 field goals, with
Oladapo Badmos'17 adding four assists to Leonardi's eight.
The Soaring Eagles came out firing in the first half of tonight's game, getting their first 21 points from three-point baskets. During that run Randolph had four three-pointers while
Connor Bays '18,
Hayden Harkins '18, and Henderson each had one. Thanks to their hot shooting from downtown, the Purple and Gold held a 21-14 lead with over 10 minutes to play in the first half. EC's lead was extended to 26-16 after another Harkins made three-pointer and then to 31-20 after Randolph's fifth successful three of the night. Randolph capped-off a 17-point opening half with a layup with just nine seconds on the clock that gave the Soaring Eagles a 35-22 lead heading into the locker rooms.
The Blue Devils opened the second half on a 10-2 run, cutting Elmira's lead to five with 16:52 left in the second half. A Kyree Hull layup made it a 39-35 game nearly a minute later, but the Soaring Eagles once again got hot from distance, hitting back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to push their lead back to 13 points.
Elmira's lead hovered around 10 points for the next few minutes, but with the score at 50-41 with 9:46 on the clock, Fredonia began making a run to close the gap. The Blue Devils used a 7-0 run over the next four-plus minutes of the game to cut EC's lead to just two points. But on the very next possession, Henderson knocked-down his third three of the game to swing momentum back in Elmira's favor.
Henderson's three sparked a 7-0 Elmira run that gave the Purple and Gold a nine-point lead with 3:27 left in regulation. Fredonia made it a five-point game with 1:40 to go, but EC hit 5-of-8 from the free throw line in that time to put away the Blue Devils, 62-56.
The Soaring Eagles will look to use this victory to jumpstart the final few weeks of their Empire 8 Conference schedule, which resumes on Friday, February 6th against St. John Fisher College. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in Rochester, NY.
NAZARETH 84, Houghton 66
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Junior
Mitch Ford amassed a game-high 35 points to lead host Nazareth to an 84-66 victory over Houghton in a men's Empire 8 Conference basketball game on Tuesday evening. Ford also collected a game-high 11 rebounds.
With the victory, Nazareth improves to 7-11 overall and 3-6 in Empire 8 Conference contests. Following the loss, Houghton drops to 5-14 overall and 1-10 in conference games. The win avenges the Golden Flyers' 65-60 loss to the Highlanders on January 6th in Houghton. In the conference standings, Nazareth stands three wins behind fourth-place Stevens, who is 6-5 in conference games.
The Golden Flyers scored the first nine points in the opening 2:27 to take command early in Tuesday's game. Ford opened the contest with a layup then added a pair of free throws. Sophomore
Jack Mulcahy connected on a three-pointer, and junior
Maurice Mills added a layup. Classmate
Nick Nadeau provided the Golden Flyers with their first double-digit lead, 14-2, after a three-point play.
Ford stretched Nazareth's lead to 18 points, 36-18, with 6:10 to play in the opening period. The bucket increased the Golden Flyers' shooting to 70 percent (14-20) from the field. Ford scored the layup along the baseline after receiving a pass from Nadeau in the post. Houghton closed to within 37-25 with just under four minutes to play in the half, but the Highlanders were unable to get their deficit back to single digits. Nadeau gave Nazareth a 43-27 lead at the break with a driving layup in the closing seconds of the period.
Midway through the first, Houghton began using a zone to slow the Golden Flyers' torrid offensive attack. Nazareth still connected on over 59 percent (16-27) of its field goals through the opening 20 minutes. Ford finished the half with 20 points after making 7-9 (78 percent) of his field goals. Mills, Nadeau, and Mulcahy totaled an additional 22 points as they combined to shoot 9-15 (60 percent).
Ford continued his dominance in the second half as he tallied the first eight points in the opening 3:20 to extend the Golden Flyers' lead to 51-27. Defensively, Nazareth did not allow Houghton a field goal for more than five minutes to begin the period. The Highlanders were eventually able to close to within 13 points, 63-50, with about seven minutes left in regulation, but they never challenged the Golden Flyers' lead.
In addition to the 35 points from Ford, Nadeau and Mills finished with 19 and 13 points, respectively. Mulcahy recorded eight points, and classmate
Dan Morse chipped in six more points. Nazareth's single-game scoring record belongs to Richard Sparks, who had 40 points against Alfred in 1986. Ford and Mills have each scored 38 points once this season.
The Golden Flyers accumulated a 36-31 advantage on the glass. With his 11 rebounds, Ford tallied his third consecutive double-double. Ford has six double-doubles on the season and five in his last six contests. Ford entered the contest ranked second on the team in scoring and rebounds with an average of 16.5 points per game and 8.2 boards per game.
ALFRED 73, Ithaca 59
ALFRED, NY—Both senior
Dalton Walsh (Stockton, NY/Cassadega Valley) and sophomore
Tyler Seelman (Lorton, VA/Hayfield Secondary) drop 16 points on Ithaca College in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena en route to a, 73-59, win for the Saxons (12-7, E8 6-5).
Alfred University dominated the game against their Empire 8 foe, outscoring Ithaca 44-30 in the paint and never losing the lead once throughout the game. The Saxons also held a slight advantage in fast break points, 14-12.
AU jumped out to an early lead, opening the game with a 15-5 run in the first seven minutes of the game. The Saxons would maintain their dominance throughout the first half taking a lead on the Bombers by as many at 12 points. AU shot 14-of-35 (40.0%) in the opening half while holding Ithaca (10-10, E8 7-4) to a meager 9-of-36 (25.0%).
Walsh fronted AU with 16 points in the first half. Sophomore
Eric Adams (Lebanon, NJ/Hunterdon Central) crashed the boards for nine rebounds while senior guard
Ryan Mahon (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) ripped down six more boards. The Saxons took a 35-26 lead into the locker room at the half.
As if the first half did not spell trouble for the Bombers, Seelman carried a hot hand into the second half and plummeted two three-pointers in the opening 1:29 of the second half to get the Saxon lead to 15. AU continued its momentum and got out to a lead of 19 points on the Bombers. However, Ithaca forced its way back into the game, getting within seven with 10:23 to go in regulation. By the 1:51 mark the Saxons were back out to a 17-point lead and rode their momentum to victory, 73-59.
Walsh ended the night with 16 points after running into foul trouble in the second half, and just missed a double-double with eight rebounds on the night. Seelman also added 16 points and four assists; Adams dominated on the boards and ended the night with 11 rebounds—moving his total rebounds against Ithaca during the regular season to 26 in two games; Mahon flirted with a rare rebounds/assists double-double, totaling nine and seven, respectively. Freshman forward
Kevin McFall (Hatboro, PA/Upper Moreland) notched 13 points and five rebounds while sophomore
Julian Reinhart (Hornell, NY/Hornell) added 12 points, six assists, and three rebounds. The Bombers were led by junior guard Sam Bevanwith 10 points and eight rebounds.