For the third consecutive game the St. Lawrence University men's basketball team scored at least 90 points clearing the 100-point mark for the first time since 2010 with a convincing 104-70 victory over Ithaca College Friday night in a non-conference game in Burkman Gymnasium in Canton.
For St. Lawrence (5-1), it was the first 100-point game since Feb. 27, 2010 when the Saints defeated Hobart 109-90 in the championship game of the Liberty League tournament. The last regular-season 100-point outburst was only two weeks before that as St. Lawrence recorded a 105-98 win over the same Hobart team in Geneva.
For Ithaca (3-3), it was the second consecutive game that the Bombers surrendered at least 100 points as Cortland scored a 103-65 win earlier this week.
Riley Naclerio led the Saints with 22 points, Kyle Edwards added 19 and Willie Zachery scored 18. Ben Crawford grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds and Dom DeRegis handed out five assists. The Saints shot 53 percent (39-for-74) from the field and connected on 11-of-24 3-pointers. At the same time, they limited Ithaca to 41% shooting (27-for-66) and 29.6% shooting from 3-point range.
"We knew we could score against Ithaca," said head coach Chris Downs. "We also knew that we had to play good defense and we did that, especially in the first half. When you look at the statistics you see a lot of positive things and not much – if any – negatives."
Edwards not only scored close to 20 points but also had a strong defensive effort drawing the defensive assignment of Marc Chasin who entered the game averaging nearly 24 points per contest. Chasin led the Bombers with 17 points but was just 6-for-13 from the field and 2-for-6 from 3-point range.
"Kyle (Edwards) played a very good game for us tonight," said Downs. "We kept Ithaca out of a rhythm all night causing them to struggle offensively."
Zachery had a very good stat line as well with his 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
"Willie (Zachery) has had two great games for us," said Downs of the senior point guard who also scored 19 points in the win Tuesday over Plattsburgh. "Those two, along with Riley (Naclerio) all had great games for us."
The trio combined for 22-of-40 from the floor including 7-for-11 from 3-point range and a perfect 8-for-8 from the line.
The Saints will wrap up the first semester schedule with a 2 p.m. Sunday game against Elmira College in the fourth consecutive home game. The Saints are 3-0 in Burkman Gymnasium so far this season.