ONEONTA, NY- Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) scored 25 points on 11-of-20 shooting to lead the Hartwick men's basketball team to a 59-52 victory over Elmira on Saturday afternoon at Lambros Arena. The win gives the Hawks a record of 20-2 and 9-2 in the Empire 8 while the Soaring Eagles remain winless with a record of 0-22 and 0-11 in the Empire 8.
The win for Hartwick also marks the first time the team has reached 20 wins since the 1991-92 season when the Hawks went 21-7. It also ensures the Hawks will defend their conference championship as they clinched a spot in the E8 semifinals.
"Any time you win 20 games in Division III it's a huge accomplishment," said head coach Todd McGuinness. "I'm really proud of my team."
The victory gave McGuinness his 47th as head coach. He is now tied with Hal Bradley for seventh on the career wins list.
Suderley also added eight rebounds. Chris Ryder (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) contributed 15 points and seven rebounds. Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) had four points, six rebounds and two assists.
Josh Keys scored 14 points to lead Elmira. Dan O'Brien and Chris Cassidy both had 10 points apiece.
Elmira got off to an early lead in the first half as it led 8-4 at the 14:48 mark. An 8-2 Hartwick run would put the Hawks in the lead 12-10 at 13:01.
The Soaring Eagles would regain the advantage three more times with Hartwick responding and take the lead back each time. The Hawks led by as much as five, 30-25, with 46 seconds left in the half before Elmira's Zak Kumor hit a three to reduce the deficit to two points and Hartwick went into halftime with a 30-28 lead.
'Wick came out of halftime with Ryder scoring two straight baskets to increase the Hartwick lead to 34-28. Elmira would keep pace throughout the rest of the game as the Hawks could not put them away. Following a layup by O'Brien, the Soaring Eagles trailed by three points, 51-48, with 4:43 left to play.
In the end, the Hawks proved to be too much as Suderley would score in the paint with 2:48 to play and free throws from Andres Carpio (Beacon, NY/Lock Haven University) and Mike Geisser (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) along with a Ryder jumper helped put the game out of reach and secure the victory.
'Wick shot nearly 50% from the floor compared to Elmira's 37.3%. The Hawks only attempted nine three-pointers in the game and hit three of them for a percentage of 33.3% while Elmira made just under 30% of its three-point attempts.
Hartwick dominated in the paint, outscoring Elmira, 32-14. The Hawks also led in second-chance points, 12-2.
The Hawks will head on the road to take on Nazareth next Friday night. Tip off begins at 8 p.m.
