Box Score

HOBOKEN, NJ- The Hartwick men's basketball team took a 12 point lead late in the second half but had to hold off a Stevens' comeback as the Hawks came out with a 74-68 win over the Ducks on Tuesday night at Canavan Arena. The win gives Hartwick a record of 8-6 overall and 4-1 in the Empire 8 while Stevens is now 8-5 and 3-2 in the E8.

The Hawks were up 62-50 with 5:33 left to play and were poised to cruise to the win. The Ducks, however, would not go down quietly as they mounted a furious comeback to trail 71-68 with 26 seconds left. Hartwick converted three free throws in the waning moments to stave off the threat and come away with the win.

Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) recorded his sixth double-double game of the season as he scored 24 points and pulled down 16 rebounds to tie his season-high. He also had two blocks and a steal. Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown) dropped a season and career-high 19 points off the bench on 7-of-11 shooting and was a blistering 5-of-9 from behind the three-point arc. Kyle Bradley (Cornwall, NY/Mansfield University) chipped in 10 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and one steal. Matt Wilson (Shelton, CT/Franklin and Marshall) had nine points and six rebounds.

"It was a great road victory," said head coach Todd McGuinness following the game. "We had some injuries through the course of last weekend and our other guys stepped up and made some plays. Jared played a great game and Justin was able to come in and hit some big shots."

The Ducks started the first half up 9-5 with 15:39 showing on the game clock. The Hawks scored five straight points to lead 10-9 at 13:56.

Two ties and five lead changes would occur in three and a half minutes of game time with the Ducks holding a 16-14 at 10:24. Stevens led by as much as seven points, 24-17, with exactly five minutes to play in the half but a 15-2 Hartwick run, highlighted by two three pointers from Pratt and one from Christian Laputka (Freeland, PA/Hazleton Area), gave the lead back to 'Wick and the Hawks went into halftime with a 32-26 advantage.

The Hawk lead would not last long in the second half as a 12-2 Duck run put the home team ahead 38-34 at 16:44. Stevens' lead increased to six points following a layup from Max Schwartz at 13:58 (45-39).

Hartwick's big push came at 13:35 when Pratt hit a trey to reduce the Stevens' lead to 45-42 at 13:35. Both teams would turn the ball over for the next three and half minutes of play and the Ducks still held to a three-point lead.

Two free throws from Suderley ended the scoring drought and Hartwick trailed 45-44 at 10:59. Another three-pointer from Pratt gave Hartwick a 47-45 lead at 10:22 and was part of a 22-5 'Wick run that gave Hartwick a 62-50 advantage.

Stevens' comeback was capped off by Matt Skrelja's three-pointer with 26 ticks left. Following a timeout, the Ducks fouled Suderley who calmly sank two free throws to give Hartwick a 73-68 lead with 25 seconds remaining to play. Kevin Zychowski's three-point attempt was off the mark but the rebound was pulled in by Evan Klimchak. Klimchak would turn the ball over on Mike Geisser's (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) steal.

Bradley went to the charity stripe and converted the front end of two shots for a 74-68 advantage. After Bradley's second free throw missed, Skrelija scooped up the rebound and passed to Phllip DeSeignora for a three-point shot, but his attempt was off the mark as Pratt came down with the rebounds and the Hawks walked off with the win.

Skrelja totaled 17 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and five steals on the night for the Ducks. Patrick Sabatino added 15 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three blocks, and one steal.

Pratt scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half to key the Hartwick win. He was part of a 'Wick bench that outscored Stevens' 27-15.

Hartwick won despite making 23-of-59 (39%) of its field goals to tie a season-low. The Ducks put up 71 shots but only made 26 of them for a 36.6% conversion rate. The Hawks hit 9-of-27 (33.3%) three-pointers compared to 8-of-28 (28.6%) for Stevens.

Stevens led in the paint, 36-24. The Hawks controlled the glass 47-40 which led to a 19-8 advantage in second chance points.

Hartwick returns to Lambros Arena on Friday night to host Alfred. Game time between the Hawks and Saxons will be at 6 p.m.