HOUGHTON, NY – Hartwick trailed by 11 points with less than nine minutes to play but rallied to force overtime where it outscored the Houghton Highlanders 17-11 to come away with a 91-85 win in Empire 8 men's basketball Saturday.
           
All five starters were in double figures, led by senior center Matt Wilson's (Shelton, CT/Franklin & Marshall College) 20 points. He would miss a double-double by one rebound as he pulled down nine boards.  
Jake Sinicki (Endicott, NY/Maine Endwell) contributed a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Brandon LaForest (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) scored 19 points, Joey Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) netted 18 and Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown) chipped in with 16 points.
           
The Hawks led for nearly the entire first half of play and took a 35-28 lead into the break. The Highlanders got right back into it early in the second half, and they used an 11-1 run over a three-minute span to grab a 61-50 lead with 8:34 to play.
           
Hartwick chipped away at the deficit and would take a pair of one-point leads with under two and a half minutes remaining. Houghton went back in front with 35 ticks left and earned a three-point edge, 74-71, 15 seconds later. Pratt, who set the program's single game record for three-pointers on Wednesday night against Utica, came through again as he nailed a three at the top of the key to tie the game with 8.5 seconds showing on the clock to send the contest to overtime.
           
A LaForest old-fashioned three-point play 11 seconds into the extra period put the Hawks in front to stay. 'Wick led by as many as seven but the Highlanders trimmed the gap to two on three separate occasions. Two Lufkin free throws with 12 seconds to go made it a two-possession game and put the game away for the Hawks.
           
Wilson would make 9-of-12 shots from the field in the game. LaForest shot 8-of-14 and he contributed five rebounds. Pratt also chipped in on the glass with five boards.
           
With the victory, the Hawks improve to 13-6 overall and 8-2 in Empire 8 play. They are on the road next Friday night at Alfred University for a 6 p.m. game.