ONEONTA, NY- Four Hawks scored in double figures as the men's basketball team defeated visiting Elms College 62-49 on Friday night at Lambros Arena. Hartwick is now a perfect 9-0 on the season while Elms falls to 3-4.
Mark Blazek (Erie, PA/Erie Cathedral Prep) led 'Wick with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting including 4-of-7 from behind the three-point arc. Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) had a double-double with 13 points and a career high 19 rebounds. Chris Ryder (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) had his second straight double-double night with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) contributed 10 points.
Daniel Gonzalez led the Blazers with 15 points. David McDaniel chipped in eight points and Jamal Hulum had seven points and seven rebounds.
The Blazers had a five point lead early in the game but the Hawks would quickly take over as they would go on an 11-0 run with seven points coming from Keane to take a 11-5 lead just under 13 minutes remaining in the half. Hartwick would maintain their pace throughout the first half and would lead 27-23 at halftime.
The Hawks opened the second half with a small lead but Elms would slowly chip away at the deficit. Following two free throws from Charles Bason, the Blazers would only trail by two points, 38-36, with 9:23 remaining in the game. That would be as close as they would get as Hartwick would pour on the offense and go on a 13-0 run aided by three three-point baskets by Blazek and lead 51-36 with 5:36 remaining to play.
Hartwick outscored Elms in the paint 26-10. The Hawks shot 23-for-64 from the floor (35.9%) compared to the Blazers' 13-for-53 (24.5%). Elm was a near perfect 17-for-18 from free throw line (94.4%). The Hawks shot 11-for-18 (61.1%) from the charity stripe.
"It was a good effort by our guys coming off an emotional victory over Oneonta last night," said head coach Todd McGuinness. "It was a good job by our defense and Keane held their leading scorer to just five points. Jared played like a man on the boards. Blazek made some big shots to stretch the lead. Elms was coming off a three-game winning streak and are a good team and well coached."
Hartwick returns to the hardwood December 28 to play Delaware Valley at the York Tournament. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m.
