Box Score
GRANTHAM, PA- The Hartwick men's basketball team held a 10 point lead with just under three minutes remaining in the second half but host Messiah rallied to tie the game and win it on a layup with 21 seconds remaining as the Falcons defeated the Hawks 76-75 in the championship game of the Homewood Suites Tournament. The loss evens 'Wick's record at 1-1 while the Falcons improve to 2-0 on the season.
Hartwick was up 71-61 at 2:59 following a layup by
Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley). It was the last layup the team would make as Messiah would go on a 15-4 run to close out the game. Brad Bolen's three-point shot at 1:14 evened the contest at 74-74. After a foul by the Falcons, Hartwick's
Matt Wilson (Shelton, CT/Franklin and Marshall) made one of two free throws with 32 seconds remaining to put the Hawks ahead 75-74. After Wilson missed the second free throw, Messiah went down the court and Bolen converted a layup with 21 seconds left to give the Falcons the 76-75 advantage.
Joey Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) scored 27 points to lead the Hawks and added three assists. Suderley had 12 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Wilson scored 10 points and had seven rebounds. Both Lufkin and Suderley were named to the All-Tournament Team.
It was the host team that started off with the lead in the first half. Just under three minutes in, the Falcons were ahead 9-2. The Hawks would start to chip away at the Messiah lead as a jumper by
Peter Melanson (Little Compton, RI/Bishop Stang) and three-pointer from Lufkin reduced the Hawks' deficit to two, 9-7 at 16:09.
It was still at two-point Falcon lead with 8:27 showing on the clock when a 6-0 'Wick run put them ahead for the first time, 23-19, at 5:48. A 12-3 Messiah run, however, would swing the advantage back in the home team's favor, 31-26, at 2:35. The Hawks eventually tied the game on a layup by Melanson to make it 33-33 with 45 ticks on the game clock. The Falcons would end the half on a 5-2 run and lead 38-35 at the break.
In the second half, Messiah had leads of six points three times, but the Hawks would keep the Falcons at bay. After Messiah took a 45-39 lead at 15:47, Hartwick would go on a 16-4 burst covering three and a half minutes of game time to surge ahead 55-49 at 12:17.
The Hawks held a five-point advantage with 6:10 remaining in the contest after a three-point shot from Lufkin. A 10-2 run gave 'Wick a 10-point lead at 2:59. After the Falcons hit what turned out to be the game-winning basket with 21 seconds left, the Hawks had two chances at the game winner but Suderley missed a jumper and Wilson missed a layup with two seconds remaining.
The Hawks shot 52.1% (25-of-48) from the field and converted 40% (8-of-20) of its three-point attempts. The Falcons made 43.5% (27-of-62) of its field goals and hit only 24% (6-of-25) of its treys. Hartwick had a sizable lead in rebounds, 41-28.
The Hawks return to the hardwood on Thursday when they go on the road to face Wells College. Game time will be at 8 p.m.
