Box Score

ONEONTA, NY- Hartwick overcame an early 13-point deficit in the first half and Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) hit key free throws down the stretch as the men's basketball team defeated #20 Stevens 63-56 on Tuesday night at Lambros Arena. The Hawks, who have now won four straight games, improve to 11-6 overall and 3-3 in the Empire 8. The Ducks drop to 14-2 overall and 5-1 in the Empire 8.

Suderley had a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. He went 13-of-15 from the foul line. Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) contributed 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.

Christian Laputka (Freeland, PA/Hazleton Area) scored eight points and dished out a game-high six assists. Kyle Bradley (Cornwall, NY/Mansfield University) scored six points and had three steals and Mike Geisser (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) also had six points while picking up six rebounds.

Russ Thompson led Stevens with 20 points and had three assists. Patrick Sabatino scored 16 points and added three blocks, three steals, and two rebounds.

“I am proud of my team for their toughness and their ability to come back and grind out a victory,” said head coach Todd McGuinness. “We did a great job on the offensive glass and made key foul shots down the stretch.”

Both teams struggled offensively with Hartwick shooting slightly better than Stevens (40.4%-39.6%). The Ducks converted 33.3% of their three-point attempts compared to 21.1% for the Hawks.

The Hawks found themselves in a big hole as Stevens outscored them 18-5 in the first 8:37 of the game. Hartwick started to settle down as a quick 7-0 run reduced the deficit to six points, 18-12, at 8:40.

After a free throw from Stevens increased its lead up to eight at 7:18, a Suderley free throw followed by a layup 48 seconds later cut the Duck lead to five at 5:25. Sheldon Jones' jumper then put the Ducks ahead by seven before a 7-0 Hartwick run would the tie the game at 24 with 2:07 remaining in the half. The Hawks would only trail by two points as Keane converted a layup with time expiring and the score was 30-28 Stevens at halftime.

In the second half, Suderley hit a jumper nine seconds in to tie the game at 30-all. Jones' layup put Stevens ahead by two and then Suderley tied it up with layup of his own. The Ducks' Kenny Gan hit the second of two free throws to give Stevens a one-point lead at 17:32 and 10 seconds later, a layup from Laputka gave Hartwick its first lead of the game, 34-33, at 17:22.

Sabatino's jumper at 17:12 regained the lead for the Ducks. The Hawks would wrestle it back as Aaron Laing (Laurens, NY/Laurens) hit two free throws to put Hartwick up 37-35 at 16:20.

Both teams would struggle for nearly four minutes as neither could make a basket. Stevens' Andrew Mazaros ended the scoring drought with two free throws to even the game at 37. A Thompson jumper gave Stevens the two-point lead at 11:46 but a Laing jumper would again tie the game.

A layup and three-pointer from Sabatino pushed Stevens out to a five-point lead with less than eight minutes to go in the game. A three from Geisser followed by a layup and free throw from Keane put Hartwick ahead 45-44 with 7:17 showing on the clock.

Over the next three minutes of game time, there would be six lead changes and two ties. Keane's layup at 3:52 put the Hawks on top 52-51 and kick start a 7-0 run that saw Hartwick take its biggest lead of the game, 58-51, at 1:11. The Ducks would cut the lead to four points on a trey by Thompson five seconds later but Suderley calmly hit four straight free throws to ice the game and give Hartwick the victory.

The Hawks controlled the paint with a 28-16 advantage. Hartwick also led in rebounds, 39-29.

'Wick will head on the road this weekend for two games. The Hawks will face Elmira on Friday night at 8 p.m. followed by Ithaca on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.