Box Score
UTICA, NY- The Hartwick men's basketball team found itself in a big hole in the first half and despite outscoring Utica 50-34 in the second frame, the Hawks came up short in the end as they fell to the Pioneers 90-77 on Tuesday night at Harold T. Clark Gymnasium. The loss drops Hartwick to 11-10 overall and 3-7 in the Empire 8. Utica improves its record to 9-13 overall and 6-6 in the E8.
Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) led Hartwick with 23 points on 8-of-17 shooting and added five rebounds.
Travis Godley (Putnam, CT/Putnam Science Academy) came off the bench to score a game- and career-high 17 points with all five of his baskets coming via the three-pointer.
Kyle Bradley (Cornwall, NY/Mansfield University) netted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He also dished out three assists.
For the Pioneers, Chris Jeffers was one of five players to score in double figures as he led the team with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting and also pulled down eight rebounds. Matt Baldwin scored 19 points while shooting six-of-8 from the floor. Connor Maisch contributed 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out five assists.
Aaron Nevins chipped in 13 points and seven assists. Marion Lewis came off the bench and scored 14 points and picked up four rebounds.
Utica was on fire in the first half as it shot 74% (23-of-31) in field goals and converted 80% (8-of-10) of its three-point attempts. The Pioneers scored the first five points of the game until
Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) got the Hawks on the board with a layup at 18:36 to make it 5-2 Utica.
Following a layup from Jeff Ward, Hartwick would trim the Pioneer lead to two points, 7-5, on a three-point shot from
Mike Geisser (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park). The Hawks would twice narrow the deficit to three points with the second time coming at 15:46.
Utica would outscore Hartwick 27-11 over the next seven and a half minutes to surge ahead 38-20 with 7:01 left to play in the half. A Godley three-pointer at 6:40 would lower the lead to 15 points but Utica would go on an 18-4 run the rest of the half to lead 56-29 at the break.
In the second half, UC would not let up as Baldwin hit a trey at 16:03 to put the Pioneers ahead 63-33. 'Wick would slowly chip away at the lead as it went on a 22-12 run to get to within 20 points, 75-55, at 9:45.
The Pioneers would convert their final basket of the game at 4:03 on a three-pointer from Jeffers to go ahead 89-63. Hartwick pieced together a furious rally as it mounted a 14-1 run to make it 90-77 UC with just 40 seconds left to play. The rally ended following a missed jumper from
Ryan Gill (Seaville, NJ/Ocean City) with 31 seconds remaining as Utica ran out the clock and held on for the victory.
Despite their struggles early on, the Hawks were a better shooting team in the second half as they hit 44% (15-of-34) of their shots and nearly 53% of their three-point attempts. 'Wick led in rebounds 34-31. The Hawk bench outscored Utica's 37-16.
Hartwick returns home to face Ithaca on Friday night at Lambros Arena. Game time will be at 8 p.m.
