ROCHESTER, NY - Senior Kyle Phillips (Ashland, MA/Ashland) poured in a career-high 28 points but Nazareth still came away with a 75-60 win over Hartwick's men's hoop team on Friday night at Kidera Gym in Rochester. The Hawks fall to 8-12 overall and 5-7 in the Empire 8. Nazareth (14-7) maintains its second-place standing in the conference at 9-3.
Phillips hit 13-of-18 on the day and added five rebounds for 'Wick. Chris Ryder (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) dropped in 14 points and Mark Blazek (Erie, PA/Erie Cathedral Prep) scored 12.
Nazareth's Corey McAdam, Phil Scafidi, and Jason Corletta combined to net 58 of the Golden Flyers' 70 points on the night. McAdam led the way with 20, while Scafidi and Corletta scored 19 points and contributed 10 rebounds apiece.
The Golden Flyers would grab the lead (21-18) 11 minutes into the first half of play on a three-pointer from Corletta, triggering a 15-5 run over the next seven minutes of action. Hartwick shaved a point of the Nazareth lead heading into halftime down nine, 37-28. Phillips scored 15 Hartwick points in the opening half with Corletta contributing 10 for the Golden Flyers.
In the second half, the Naz lead grew to 13 after five minutes, but a 9-2 Hawks' spurt cut the deficit to just six, 50-44, just two and a half minutes later. Ryder converted seven points in the 'Wick run.
With Naz holding a 52-46 edge with under 12 minutes to play, another big Golden Flyer run would seal Hartwick's fate. Naz would net 14 of the game's next 18 points over the next four minutes to open up a 16-point lead, 66-50, with 7:52 on the clock, and the hosts would maintain a double-digit advantage the rest of the way in the victory.
The Hawks connected on 23-of-58 (39.7%) shots for the game but converted just one three-pointer (1-for-10) on the night. The Flyers shot 26-for-54 (48.1%) and made 6-of-20 from three-point range.
With four conference games remaining, Hartwick faces a must-win next week if the Hawks have a chance at an E8 postseason berth. The fifth-place Hawks will host fourth-place Ithaca (14-6, 7-4 E8) on Friday, February 12th at Lambros Arena at 8 p.m.
