Men's Basketball | 2/20/2024 5:09:00 PM
No. 3 seed St. John Fisher University and No. 5 Alfred University advanced to the 2023-24 Empire 8 Men's Basketball Tournament Semifinals after earning first round victories on Tuesday, February 20. St. John Fisher knocked off No. 6 seed Houghton University, 79-65, while Alfred rolled to a 80-60 at No. 4 seed Keuka College.
Alfred will head to top-seed Utica University to take on the Pioneers in the first semiinal contest at 7 p.m. from the Harold T. Clark Athletic Centeron Thursday, Feb. 22. St. John Fisher will make the quick trip across East Avenue to take on No. 2 Nazareth University in the second E8 Semifinal from Kidera Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two semifinal winners will meet for the 2024 Empire 8 Championship at the highest remaining seed on Saturday, Feb. 24.
The league champion receives an automatic berth into the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship, which begins March 1-2
This marks the third year in a row that the same four teams have advanced to the semifinals. Utica won both regular season meetings against Alfred, 70-67 on Jan. 20 in Alfred and 83-66 on its home floor on Feb. 16. Nazareth and St. John Fisher split the regular season series, with each team winning on its home floot. Nazareth earned a 79-66 win on Jan. 20, while the Cardinals pulled out a 77-76 win in the regular season finale on Feb. 17
NO. 3 ST. JOHN FISHER 79, NO. 6 HOUGHTON 65
No. 3 seed St. John Fisher handled their business at home, defeating the No. 6 seed Highlanders, 79-65 to advance to the Empire 8 semifinals. The Cardinals improved to 18-8 on the season, while Houghton had its season end with a 7-19 mark.
The Cardinals claimed an early advantage after
Matt Lettko and
Connor Recore scored layups in the opening 90 seconds. The team continued to push their lead and an 8-0 run was capped off by an emphatic dunk by
Brendan McRoy, making the score 14-5 after five minutes. The Highlanders knocked down shots to stay within striking distance, but a three-pointer by
Akinlana Popoola and three-point play by McRoy extended the lead back to 18 points with four minutes to play. As the horn sounded for half-time, Fisher led the way 43-25.
The Cardinals maintained a big lead for the opening seven minutes of the second-half, but the Highlanders began to chip away cutting their deficit to 13 points with 12 minutes to play. Layups by
Connor Williams and
Jack Foley stopped the run and put Fisher back on top 67-46, but Houghton did not give up. A couple of runs down the stretch saw the Cardinal lead shrink to 12 points, but a strong defense by Fisher helped keep the Highlanders scoreless in the final three minutes of the game.
Daniel Cook led the way with a 16 points, 11 rebound double-double and he added four assists, two blocks and two steals. McRoy added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists in his 30 minutes of action. Lettko and Williams both added double-digit scoring, tallying 11 and 10 points respectively.
Jajuan Preaster led the Highlanders with 20 points in the loss.
NO. 5 ALFRED 80, NO. 4 KEUKA 60
No. 5 Alfred used a 16-2 run late in the opening half to build a 43-26 lead after 20 minutes of play and cruised to an 80-60 win over No. 4 Keuka in the opening round of the Empire 8 Tournament. Alfred improved to 12-14 overall, while Keuka had its season come to an end with an 11-13 mark.
The two teamd met just three days earlier in Keuka, with the Wolves pulling out a 44-41 win. Tonight, Alfred surpassed its point total from Saturday in the first 20 minutes.
he Saxons shot 48.4 percent from the field while winning the rebound battle by a 38-29 margin.
Adam Enders (Belfast, NY/Belfast) scored a team-high 19 points to go with four rebounds.
Franlys Valenzuela (Santiago de los Cabelleros, Dominican Republic/San Ysidro) finished the game with 12 points and a game-high 20 rebounds.
Tyler Curran (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) and
Tyler Hind (Randolph, NY/Randolph) combined for 32 points for AU.
"I thought we did a nice job tonight fixing a few things from Saturday's game," Head Coach
Erich Kaempffe said. "I want to congratulate Coach Scott and his seniors on a great season. They are a talented team and compete hard. We're excited to get a chance to compete against a terrific program in Utica on Thursday."
Keuka got on the scoreboard first, but four points from Enders were joined by a jump shot from Curran to give AU their first lead of the evening. Later in the half, deep shots from Curran and Hind were followed by a layup from
Oscar Wolter (Munich, Germany/Lycee Jean Renoir), as Alfred University extended their advantage to double-digit figures. The Saxons closed out the first half on a 7-2 run across the final three minutes of action, as the team took a 43-28 lead into the break.
Four quick points from Curran to begin the second half had AU ahead by as many as 19 points. The Wolves found their shots, but Alfred University relied on jump shots from Curran and Valenzuela, as well as a three-point shot from
Zion Baitey (Morristown, NJ/Morristown), to maintain their lead. The Saxons held an advantage of 20 or more points across the final six minutes of the game to secure the win and advance to the Empire 8 Championship Tournament Semifinals.
Christian Sage led the Wolves with 24 points, while Devin Milton added 21 points in the loss.
2023-24 Empire 8 Men's Basketball Championship Schedule
Tuesday, February 20 – First Round (at Higher Seed)
No. 3 St. John Fisher defeated No. 6 Houghton, 79-65 – BOX SCORE
No. 5 Alfred defeated No. 4 Keuka, 80-60 – BOX SCORE
Thursday, February 22 – Semifinals (at Higher Seed)
No. 5 Alfred at No. 1 Utica - 7 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
No. 3 St. John Fisher at No. 2 Nazareth – 7:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Saturday, February 24 - Championship Final (at Highest Remaining Seed)
Winner of Semifinal No. 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal No. 2 - TBA
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
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