ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick's men's hoop team had a hard time shaking the scrappy Soaring Eagles form Elmira, but a late 12-0 would put the game away and seal an 83-66 victory on Saturday at Lambros Arena. The win, which is the Hawks' 15th this season, nails down the third seed in the upcoming Empire 8 semifinals. The Hawks will oppose second seed Stevens, a 96-74 loser to regular season champ Ithaca today, in the semis on Friday in Hoboken, NJ.
Junior guard Mark Blazek (Erie, PA/Erie Cathedral Prep) entered the game needing 10 points to join the Hartwick 1,000 point club. After netting nine points in the first half, it took Blazek just 13 seconds in the second half for his jumper from just inside the three-point arc to put him over the top. He finished the game with 17 points for the Hawks.
EC had no answer for junior forward Chris Ryder (Port Washington, NY/Port Washington) who pumped in a career-high 32 points. He shot 11-for-20 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line while contributing a game-high 11 rebounds in the game.
The Hawks took the lead 32 seconds into the contest on an Anthony Keane (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) three-pointer and never trailed the rest of the day. Ryder scored 17 in the first half alone and 'Wick led by as many as 13 before entering halftime up, 46-39.
The Hawks held at least a nine-point edge through the first 13 minutes of the second half. EC would close the gap to five, 67-62, with just over six minutes left, but 12 straight Hartwick points over the next three minutes would ice it. Keane and Ryder scored four points each and senior Martin McCann (Hopewell Junction, NY/Lourdes), who was playing in his final regular season home game, knocked down his second three-pointer of the day in the spurt.
The Hawks shot 52% from the field as a team and out-rebounded Elmira by a 35-30 margin. The Soaring Eagles, who shot 44%, received 22 points from senior Bobby DiPiazza. Zach Simpson and Josh Keys each added 12.
Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) finished the game with 12 points for 'Wick. McCann and Keane score eight and seven, respectively.
Blazek hit seven of his nine shots in the game. He joins only 27 other players in Hartwick history to eclipse the 1,000 point mark. He now has 1,007 points putting him 27th on the College's all-time scoring list.
The 10 Empire 8 wins for the Hawks is tied for the second-highest win total in 20 years of conference play. Hartwick, which will be playing in its first-ever Empire 8 Tournament, plays at Stevens Institute of Technology's Canavan Arena on Friday at 8 p.m. Ithaca hosts St. John Fisher in the other semifinal. The championship game is slated for Sunday at the highest remaining seed.