ONEONTA, NY- Mark Blazek (Erie, PA/Erie Cathedral Prep) converted a three-point play to give Hartwick a one-point lead with 2:42 remaining and Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) hit a three-pointer with 48 seconds left as the men's basketball team came back to defeat cross-city rival Oneonta State 57-51 on Thursday night at a raucous Lambros Arena. Hartwick is now a perfect 8-0 on the season while the Red Dragons fall to 1-7.
Suderley scored 18 points to lead the Hawks and also had eight rebounds. Chris Ryder (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. He also made three steals.
Dan Lee led Oneonta with 15 points and had eight rebounds. Nick Sarchioto contributed 10 points.
The Red Dragons led for the entire first half. They had a 38-28 lead on the Hawks with 13 points coming off of their bench. Oneonta shot 6-of-12 (50%) in three-pointers compared to Hartwick's 3-for-8 (37.5%).
Lee's three-pointer to start the second half gave the Red Dragons their biggest lead of the game at 41-28. The Hawks would chip away at the deficit as they went on a 10-2 run capped off by an alley-oop pass and layup from Andres Carpio (Beacon, NY/Lock Haven University) to Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) to trim the Oneonta lead to five points and keep the game within reach. The 'Wick defense kept the pressure on the Red Dragons in the second half and a 15-2 run to close out the game proved to be the key capped off by Blazek's layup and subsequent free throw that gave the Hawks their first lead of the game at 52-51 with 2:42 remaining to play.
Following an exchange of missed shots, the Hawks had possession with just under a minute to play. Blazek would find Suderley on the left side of the three-point line and he drained the trey to put Hartwick up by four. Ryder would calmly hit two free throws in the final 22 seconds to increase the Hawks lead to six and give them the victory.
Hartwick outscored Oneonta 29-13 in the second half. Following two free throws with 7:28 remaining, the Red Dragons did not score again for the rest of the game. They shot only 19.3% from the field and a paltry 10% from beyond the three-point arc.
"It was a great win for us with a great atmosphere all around," commented head coach Todd McGuinness. "Ryder stepped up and had two key charges in the game and Suderley's three-pointer was huge. Keane played some good defense. Our guys did not want to lose this game."
Hartwick returns to their home court tomorrow night when they host Elms College at 8 p.m.
