ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick led for all but 44 seconds as the Hawks gutted out an 87-80 victory over Farmingdale State in the championship game of the Hartwick Basketball Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday at Lambros Arena.
            Tournament MVP Bobby Connors (Rockville Centre, NY/Chaminade) had a career day as he registered a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds. His 24 points were a College-best, as were his six offensive rebounds, and four three-pointers. He also had three blocked shots, which equaled a career-high.
            All-Tournament selection Tommy Kelly (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) added 21 points while sinking a career-high five three-pointers. He also dished out six assists.
            With the victory, the Hawks improve to 3-1 overall and they have won three games in a row. It marks the first 3-1 start for Hartwick since the 2011-12 season.
            'Wick knocked down 16 three-pointers in the contest. Overall, they shot 46% (31-for-67) from the floor while holding the Rams to 39% (24-for-61) shooting.
            The Hawks exploded out of the gate as they hit their first five shots, including three's from Pat Garey (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) and Kyle Bradshaw (Tinton Falls, NJ/Manasquan), to zip out to a 14-3 lead on the Rams after just two and a half minutes. Farmingdale settled in and eventually trimmed the margin to one, 23-22, following a three-pointer with 9:22 left in the half.
            'Wick got it back up to eight four minutes later but the Rams made it a 2-point game with less than four minutes to play until halftime. Two threes from Connors and another from Kelly, all within 1:34 of one another, built the advantage back to nine with two minutes on the clock. The Hawks made it ten before the Rams got the final two buckets and the two teams went into the locker room with the hosts up six, 52-46.
            Farmingdale cut the Hawk lead to one two and a half minutes into the second half, but a 12-point Hartwick run gave them a 13-point edge, 66-53, with 12:17 left. The lead grew to as many as 14 at the midway point of the half. The Hawks then went cold for nearly a four-minute window and the Rams went on a 12-0 run to make it 78-77 with just 3:24 to go. Connors followed with a layup, and after two minutes without a point from either team, Sam Hanley (Cranston, RI/Cranston East) was in the right place and the right time as he collected a teammate's blocked shot and buried a huge three-pointer with 69 seconds remaining on the clock to push the Hartwick lead to six, 83-77. Farmingdale got as close as five with a three at 35 seconds, but they didn't record another point as the Hawks pulled out the win.
            Bradley ended the night with 17 points to go along with four boards, three treys, three assists, and two steals. Austin Haskell (Kirkwood, NY/Susquehanna Valley) added 10 points, four assists, and three rebounds. Hanley finished with eight points on two threes. Garey had five points and three assists.
            Hunter Schenkel led the way for Farmingdale (2-1) with 24 points. He joined Connors and Kelly on the All-Tournament Team, along with Plattsburgh's Travis Cox, and CCNY's Yassine Sakhi.
            Hartwick hosts local rival SUNY Oneonta on Thursday, November 21 beginning at 7:30 p.m.

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