ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick's men's basketball team nearly came away with a victory against one of the top teams in the Empire 8 Conference for the second straight day, but in the end, the Hawks would come up short. 'Wick led by as many as 11 in the first half and held the advantage with just over five minutes to play in the game, but visiting Nazareth out-scored the Hawks 20-10 to close the game to hand them the 81-72 loss.
           
Austin Haskell (Kirkwood, NY/Susquehanna Valley) poured in a game-high 26 points for Hartwick (11-11, 3-8 E8) as he led four players in double figures. Kyle Bradshaw (Tinton Falls, NJ/Manasquan) netted 14 points, Pat Garey (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) dropped in 13, and Tommy Kelly (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) chipped in 12.
           
Five players were in double digits for the Golden Flyers led by Cody Green's 18 points. Stephen Gabel contributed 17 for the visitors.
           
The lead would change hands seven times with three ties in a back and forth opening 13 minutes of action. A Garey jumper pushed the Hawks in front, 17-16, at the 6:53 mark of the half and they would hold onto the advantage for nearly 17 minutes. An 11-3 run for the Hawks near the end of the half upped their advantage to 34-23 before a Green three at the horn cut it to an eight-point game, 34-26, at halftime. Connors scored five and Haskell added four in the 'Wick spurt. Haskell finished with 12 points and seven rebounds to pace Hartwick at the break.
           
After an opening bucket in the second half to get the lead to 10, Naz quickly got it to three less than two minutes later. The Hawks built the advantage back to 10 points twice before five minutes were elapsed in the stanza but the Golden Flyers narrowed the gap to one with 12 and a half minutes to go.
           
Naz tied the score at 52 on a Gabel layup at 9:40 which marked the first of five ties over the next five minutes of action. Haskell gave 'Wick a three-point lead, 62-59, at the 5:51 mark only to have Naz answer with five straight points to grab the upper hand, 64-62. A jumper from Kelly evened the contest at 64-all at 4:44 but Zach Stenglein's bucket 17 ticks later put the Flyers ahead for good.
           
A Naz three increased its lead to five before Garey hit a trey to shrink the gap to two, 71-69, with 3:04 left. It would be as close as the Hawks would get the rest of the way as Isaac Nelson nailed a three on Naz's next possession. After a Garey layup to close it to four, the Hawks missed their final four shots while the Flyers went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line to secure the win.
           
As a team, Hartwick made 40.9% (27-for-66) of its shots. The Hawks struggled from the outside making only 4-of-20 (20%) for the game. The Golden Flyers matched the Hawks exactly from the field but they connected on 9-of-21 (42.9%) from three in the contest. Naz also out-rebounded 'Wick 47-39.
           
Haskell made nine of his 14 shots from the floor for Hartwick. He also grabbed nine rebounds and made 8-of-9 from the line. Bradshaw added nine rebounds and three steals while Kelly dished out four assists. Bobby Connors (Rockville Centre, NY/Chaminade) scored seven points and he pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
           
Green (4) and Gabel (3) accounted for seven of the Naz three-pointers in the game. Stenglein ended up with 15 points. Jonathan Park scored 12 and he secured a game-high 14 rebounds. Kevin Underwood added 11 and seven.
           
The Hawks are off until next weekend when they travel west for a pair of Empire 8 Conference games at Houghton on Friday, February 14 and Alfred on Saturday, February 15.
           
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