ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick's men's basketball team led for the final 33 minutes on Saturday as it took down visiting Nazareth, which entered the game unbeaten in the Empire 8, by a final score of 85-69. Kevin Townes (Lagrangeville, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes) scored the game-high for the second straight night with 21 points for the Hawks, who improve to 6-9 and 3-3 in the E8. The Golden Flyers drop to 10-5 and 5-1.
In the first half, Hartwick would use a 7-0 run in a two-minute span, with Marc du Moulin (Altamont, NY/Guilderland) scoring four and Patrick Garey (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) hitting a three-pointer, which turned a two-point lead into a 27-18 advantage. They would later end the half on a 17-8 run to grab a 14-point, 46-32 edge at the break.
Hartwick's lead grew to its largest, 53-35, just two minutes into the second half. The Hawks would maintain a double-digit lead until under nine minutes remaining in the contest. The Golden Flyers would trim their deficit to six points four times but they got no closer. Hartwick led 75-69 with 1:48 left but du Moulin, Garey, Brandon LaForest (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes), and Townes combined to go 10-of-10 from the free-throw line to put the Golden Flyers away.
Townes made 5-of-10 shots from the floor with a pair of three-pointers. He also made all nine of his free-throw attempts and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Corey Baker (Granby, MA/Granby) added 15 points and he made three three-pointers. Du Moulin finished with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go along with five boards. LaForest had 10 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Garey and Justin Carruthers (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich) chipped in offensively with eight points apiece.
The Hawks would make 90% (26-for-29) from the free-throw line as a team. They made 46% from the floor and nailed nine shots from beyond the three-point arc.
Tyler Stenglein led Naz with 19 points. Jake Burgio scored 15 points and contributed a game-high 10 rebounds. Cody Green had five treys and he finished the night with 15 points.
The Hawks are off until next Thursday, January 25 when they visiting the Elmira College Soaring Eagles at 6 p.m.