HOBOKEN, NJ – Host Stevens won an 81-62 decision over Hartwick's men's basketball team on Tuesday night at Canavan Arena. With the loss, the Hawks go to an even 5-5 in the Empire 8 and 12-7 overall while the Ducks go up 14-4 and 8-2 in the league.
Hartwick got out to the first lead of the night but that shifted to the home side as Stevens went ahead by eight, 44-36, by the time both teams parted for the locker room. 'Wick's 36 points were generated by only four of the nine players who saw action in the first 20 minutes, spearheaded by Joey Lufkin's (Argyle, NY/Argyle Central) 14.
For Stevens, the 44 points scored behind the break came at the hands of eight players on 54.8 percent shooting. At the half, the Ducks owned the Hawks on the glass 21-10, including five offensive boards.
At 17:09, Jake Sinicki (Endicott, NY/Maine-Endwell HS) stripped Patrick Barron of the ball and finished in the paint for the Hawks' largest advantage of the night up eight, 14-6. Hartwick would allow Stevens back in at 15:37 as Ryan Coffey found the net for the made two for a 15-15 tie.
A three by Lufkin under a minute later gave reassurance back to the Hawks as the visitor held the lead for the next four minutes.
Nearly halfway through the first, Dylan Walsh hit a three from downtown on the help from Chris Cosgrove to even the score at Canavan once more, 24-up.
This time, the next scoring play came to the Ducks' credit and their 20-12 run kept the halftime score in their favor.
Stevens' momentum was evident well into the second until a three from Corey Baker (Granby, MA/Granby HS) negated some of that energy. The junior connected from deep with 11:06 to go to bring Hartwick back to within three, 57-54.
The next five minutes saw the Hawks grow cold as the team was unable to connect on any of their eight attempts covering that stretch. The Ducks capitalized with a 10-0 surge for a 69-54 lead with 4:49 left to play. From there, Stevens continued to pull away until the final buzzer sounded.
Stevens shot 50 percent from the floor and 93.6 percent from the stripe (15-for-16). Hartwick shot 42.6 percent in the game and only landed 70 percent of its attempts from the line.
Lufkin collected eight more points to finish the high point getter for the Hawks with 22 and two assists. Brandon LaForest (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes HS) and Sinicki each finished with 14 points and five and six respective boards.
Evan Klimchak earned 24 points, three assists, and three steals for his team while Spencer Cook produced 19 bench points and seven boards.
Next, Hartwick takes to Houghton's hardwood this Friday, February 3 for an 8 p.m. tip off.