Box Score
HOUGHTON, NY- Four Hawk players scored in double figures as the men's basketball team snapped a two-game winless streak with an 81-73 victory over Houghton on Saturday afternoon at the Nielsen Center. Hartwick improves its record to 7-5 while the Highlanders fall to 0-11.
Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) led Hartwick with 21 points and converted all 11 of his free throws. He also grabbed six rebounds.
Kyle Bradley (Cornwall, NY/Mansfield University) scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and had nine rebounds.
'Wick got some big contributions from its bench led by
Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) who scored a season-high 15 points. He added seven rebounds and blocked three shots.
Matt Petruccione (Saratoga Springs, NY/Bishop Maginn) scored a career-high 13 points and picked up six boards. Both players played a major role as the Hawks' bench outscored the Highlanders 31-11.
The Highlanders were led by Chris Confair who scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Andres Makori contributed 16 points and dished out five assists. Seth Shay chipped in 15 points, five assists, and two steals.
The first half featured seven lead changes and six ties. After Bradley's layup tied the game at nine at 14:34, the Highlanders embarked on a 10-3 run that saw them move ahead 19-12 with 9:54 showing on the clock. A 13-4 Hartwick run, however, gave the lead back to the Hawks, 25-23, at 5:31. A layup from Houghton's Matthew Ball would tie the game at 25-25 at 4:14 but a 11-3 Hartwick run to close out the first half gave 'Wick a 36-28 lead at halftime.
Keane's layup 40 seconds into the second half increased the Hartwick lead to 10 points. Houghton would come roaring back with an 18-5 run covering seven minutes of game time to take the lead, 46-43, at 11:42.
Following two more ties and the teams exchanging baskets back and forth, Keane's layup at 7:22 put the Hawks ahead 58-57. A 14-5 'Wick run gave Hartwick some breathing room with a 71-62 lead with 2:18 left to play.
A three-point shot from Shay cut the deficit to just four points with 29 seconds left and the Highlanders were looking to make a comeback. The Hawks held on in the end as the team converted seven of eight free throws in the final 28 seconds to come out with the victory.
“It was a good team effort,” said head coach
Todd McGuinness. “We made some foul shots down the stretch to keep the game at a distance. For as bad as our effort was the last few games, we played harder and our effort was better.”
For the game, Hartwick shot 49.1% from the floor (27-of-55) to Houghton's 43.1% (28-of-65). The Hawks led in rebounds 39-29 and had a 30-16 lead in the paint.
Today's game marked just the third time that the two teams have met. The last meeting between the two schools was in 1985.
The Hawks make their return to Lambros Arena next Friday when they host St. John Fisher. Game time will be at 8 p.m.
