ONEONTA, NY - Visiting Skidmore (5-0) outscored the Hartwick men's basketball 15-7 in overtime to earn a 79-71 win at Lambros Arena on Tuesday night. Jon Douglas nailed two three-pointers in the opening 1:07 of the extra period to give Skidmore a four-point edge and the Thoroughbreds would do the rest from the foul line going 9-for-14.
The Hawks managed to cut the lead to 74-71 on a Mark Blazek (Erie, PA/Erie Cathedral) three-pointer with 18 seconds left in the extra session, but the Blue and White could get no closer. Blazek dropped in a game-high 23 points in 42 minutes of action. James Mantas (Niskayuna, NY/CBA) contributed a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Kyle Phillips (Ashland, MA/Ashland) added 13 points and seven boards and Chris Ryder (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) pulled down 10 rebounds for 'Wick.
Jeff Altimar led five players in double figures for the Thoroughbreds with 16 points. Sakhile Sithole netted 14, Kyle Clark and Brian Lowry scored 12 apiece, and Douglas recorded 11, including the big three's in overtime.
The Hawks, who trailed by as many as nine points in the first half of play, battled back to take a 9-point edge of their own with 9:30 left in the second half. Skidmore led 38-33 on a trey from Douglas 38 seconds into the second half, but a 22-8 run for Hartwick would put the hosts in front. The Hawks received eight points from Blazek, including two three-pointers, and seven points from Phillips in the run.
Eight straight points from Skidmore, including six from Lowry, would quickly slice into the Hawk advantage and both teams would battle back and forth the rest of the way with neither team able to gain more than a two-point lead over the final 6:30.
A Sithole tip-in gave his team a 60-59 lead with 3:22 remaining, but Blazek's third triple of the game put Hartwick ahead by two on the next trip down the court. Sithole tied the game with a jumper on Skidmore's next possession to tie it at 62, and he would give his team the lead with 1:07 to play converting a layup.
A tough layup from Blazek even the score at 64 with 42 seconds left and Skidmore ran off close to 30 seconds left on its next possession before a 'Wick foul would put Gerard O'Shea to the line with a chance to put his team up. He missed and the Hawks got the rebound for the last possession.
Skidmore did not allow Hartwick to get a good look as they still had two fouls to give before putting Hartwick to the line. With two seconds left, the Hawks took a timeout and set up one final play. Senior Mike Tracy (Morris, NY/Morris) had a look from two steps beyond the three-point arc but his shot wouldn't fall sending the game to overtime.
Skidmore hit 26-of-52 (50%) for the game while the Hawks connected on 30-of-68 (44%) from the floor. Hartwick out-rebounded the Throughbreds by a final count of 39-34. The Hawks, who pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, registered 27 second-chance points in the game. Skidmore's bench outscored 'Wick 32-11 and the Thoroughbreds converted 19 turnovers into 23 points on the night.
Hartwick (3-2) hits the road on Friday for its Empire 8 opener at Ithaca beginning at 8 p.m.
