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Post-game press conference
YORK, Pa. – The Hamilton Continentals, ranked 13th nationally by d3hoops.com, opened a 41-32 halftime lead and never trailed in the second half Friday as they handed the Golden Flyers a season-ending 86-72 men's basketball defeat in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at York College's Wolf Gymnasium.
Hamilton (23-4) will play host York (24-4) Saturday at 7 p.m. for a berth in the tournament's Sweet 16. Nazareth, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010, saw its season come to a disappointing conclusion with a 20-8 record. York defeated Yeshiva, 81-67, in Friday's first game.
The Continentals also used to their advantage a decisive 51-34 rebounding edge to advance past the Golden Flyers, with 17 of those rebounds coming off the offensive glass. Jake Burgio posted a double-double for the Golden Flyers with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Jones and Cody Green each had 12. Tyler Stenglein was held to 6.
"I thought we did a terrific job of battling back, but they were a very physical team -- probably the most physical team we've played all year," said Nazareth Coach
Kevin Broderick. "We just didn't keep them off the backboards enough."
Hamilton's leading scorer, Kena Gilmour (20 points), had 10 points in the first half as the Continentals led 41-32. Peter Hoffmann then nailed a three-pointer on Hamilton's first second-half possession to widen the lead to 12 points, 44-32. Earlier in the half the score was tied 23-23, before Hamilton closed with an 18-9 scoring spree. Burgio had nine first-half points for the Golden Flyers.
Nazareth continued to battle in the second half. With 16:58 left, Green nailed his first of two three-pointers to trim Hamilton's lead to 46-42. Green hit another three-pointer, then another field goal and two free throws that helped Nazareth close to within three, 58-55, with 10:26 left. Two more free throws by Stephen Gabel and one more from Burgio sliced the Hamilton lead to two, 62-60, with 7:57 to play.
That was as close as the Golden Flyers would get as Hamilton followed with a 10-3 scoring run, fueled by six points from Hoffmann (15 points), to go back up by nine, 72-63, with less than 4:00 left. The lead continued to grow as Hamilton eventually triumphed by a double-digit margin.
Four Hamilton players scored in double figures: Gilmour had 20, Andrew Groll 16, Hoffmann 15 and Michael Grassy 12.
Despite the loss, the Golden Flyers will try to remain upbeat with all of their players expected to return for the 2018-19 season. 2017-18 marked Nazareth's first 210-win season since 2007-08.
"We know we have a lot of talent coming back and the goal is to get back here," said Stenglein, who, with 1,376 points, ranks ninth on the Golden Flyers' career list. "We have to get stronger and get more skilled. We have great team chemistry also. Playing in this tournament opened our eyes to a different level of basketball."
"We all know how hard it is to get to this tournament," Broderick said. "We had a group of guys this year that deserved this opportunity. We were a very low maintenance team. Tyler is our captain and he takes a very business-like approach and everyone follows suit. More than anytime in my career, I wanted this team to have this opportunity."
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