ONEONTA, NY – All nine Hawks made it into the scoring column but Hartwick had a tough night shooting the basketball on Saturday in a 74-67 loss to Stevens Institute of Technology (16-9, 9-7 E8) at Canavan Arena in Hoboken. The Hawks also could not overcome a strong shooting performance in the first half from the Ducks despite a valiant comeback late.
Austin Haskell (Kirkwood, NY/Susquehanna Valley) paced his team in scoring with 14 points to go along with eight rebounds for the Hawks (9-15, 5-10 E8).
Kyle Bradshaw (Tinton Falls, NJ/Brookdale CC) was also in double figures with 13 points and he tied for a team-high with nine boards.
Bobby Connors (Rockville Centre, NY/Chaminade) also grabbed nine rebounds and he netted eight points.
Hartwick would make 34% (22-of-64) of its shots in the contest. The Hawks, the leading three-point shooting team in the conference with an average of 10.6 threes per game, made season-lows of six treys and a percentage of 22% from downtown on the night.
The host Ducks would jump out to a 14-2 lead in the game as 'Wick made only one of their first six shots while committing four turnovers in the opening four and a half minutes. The lead would grow to as many as 22 points in the half as Stevens made 53% from the floor and 62% from three-point range with eight made shots from beyond the arc. The Hawks trailed by twenty, 42-22, with only three minutes left on the first-half clock, but they would end the half on a 12-4 run to make it a 12-point deficit at the break.
Hartwick trimmed the Stevens' lead to nine three times in the opening four minutes of the second half. A pair of free throws from Haskell made it eight, 54-46, with 11:13 remaining but an offensive rebound and subsequent three made it double digits once again for the hosts. The Hawks trailed 70-55 with 4:12 left to play but they would register the next seven points over the next two and a half minutes to make it 70-62. After a Stevens bucket at 1:22,
Brandon LaForest (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) answered with a three-pointer for 'Wick with 60 seconds to go. The Ducks sank one of two free throws before
Tommy Kelly (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) hit a jumper to cut it to only six, 73-67. After another Duck free throw, the Hawks couldn't convert on the other end to inch any closer.
Kelly ended up with nine points for Hartwick. LaForest matched Connors with eight. He also dished out four assists.
Pat Garey (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) had six points and four rebounds.
Justin Carruthers (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) recorded four points and six rebounds.
Four Ducks reached double digits in scoring. Ryan Coffey led the team with 19 points. Alec DiPietrantonio added a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards.
The Hawks wrap up the regular season at Sage on Monday, February 18. Game time is 7:30 p.m. from the Kahl Center in Albany, NY.
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