Box Score

CHICOPEE, MA- Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) hit a layup on a pass from Christian Laputka (Freeland, PA/Hazleton Area) with seven seconds remaining and then blocked a potential game-winning three-point attempt as the Hartwick men's basketball team defeated Elms College 65-63 on Thursday night. The Hawks improve their record to 6-3 while Elms falls to 2-6.

Suderley scored 29 points and added 13 rebounds. Kyle Bradley (Cornwall, NY/Mansfield University) contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Laputka finished the game with six points, four assists, and three rebounds.

Andre French led the Blazers with 26 points. David McDaniel added 11 points and five rebounds.

Hartwick shot 44% (22-of-50) from the field to Elms' 34% (18-of-53) and won despite only converting 9.1% (1-of-11) of its three-point shots compared to 43.5% (10-of-23) for the Blazers. The Hawks controlled the boards with a 41-33 advantage.

'Wick  dominated in the paint, 32-16. The defense forced 12 Blazer turnovers that the Hawks converted into 15 points.

Suderley started the game with a layup to give the Hawks the early lead. After the score was tied twice, Hartwick would move ahead five points, 13-8, at 12:11. The Hawks would lead 22-15 at 8:39. A 15-7 run would give Elms a 30-29 advantage with 2:19 left in the half. The advantage would increase to four points after a three-pointer from French and the Blazers would lead 33-30 at halftime.

Elms started the second half on a 12-4 run and expanded its lead to 11 points, 45-34, at 15:44. A 12-3 Hawk run brought Hartwick to within one point, 47-46, and Bradley would convert a layup at 8:17 to tie the game at 51-all.

After Walter Mfuko hit a three to put the Blazers on top by three points, Mike Geisser (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) would get the Hawks back to within one and two free throws from Laputka gave 'Wick a 55-54 lead with 7:11 remaining in the game.

Hartwick held its lead for the next few minutes and Bradley converted one of two free throw shots with 30 seconds left on the clock to give the Hawks a 63-60 edge.

Following an Elms' timeout, French nailed a three-pointer to tie the game at 63 with 15 seconds left. The Hawks brought the ball down the court with time ticking down and Laputka hit Suderley under the basket for the layup to give 'Wick a two-point lead with seven ticks on the clock. Elms would call a timeout to set up their final shot. David McDaniel attempted a three-point shot with time expiring but Suderley was there to block it and preserve the win.

“I'm really proud of our effort tonight after how bad we played on Tuesday,” said head coach Todd McGuinness. “Jared played a good game and Christian was able to come up with a big play when we needed it.”

Hartwick is idle for the next three and a half weeks and will return to action on December 30 when it will face defending Liberty League champion Hobart on the road. Game time will be at 3 p.m.