HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 25, 2011) – Hartwick College defeated Stevens Institute of Technology, 76-73, on Friday night at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. in an Empire 8 Men's Basketball Championship semifinal. With the win, the Hawks advance to the Empire 8 Championship game against fourth-seeded St John Fisher College who upset top seed Ithaca College in the other semifinal. Stevens was led by a team-high 18 points from sophomore guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) and a double-double of 16 points and 18 rebounds from junior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.).
The Ducks played well over the first 10 minutes, jumping out to a 23-11 lead 9:06 into the game. They maintained a double-digit advantage for the next six-plus minutes before an 11-2 run over a span of 1:58 cut the margin to three 36-33) with 1:11 remaining in the period. Stevens was able to close out the half with four-straight points on back-to-back layups from senior center Bryan Franklin (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Smith to go into the locker room with a 40-33 advantage.
The Hawks (16-10 overall) charged back, cutting the Stevens lead to one at 48-47 after a three-pointer from senior guard Mark Blazek (Erie, Pa.) with 14:35 left in the game. The Ducks remained calm and held onto the lead for the next four minutes but a triple from freshman forward Mike Geisser (East Hanover, N.J.) tied the score at 58 apiece with under 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
A Blazek triple with 7:52 on the clock gave Hartwick its first lead of the game at 61-58 but the Ducks battled back, regaining the upper hand thanks to a layup from Jones with 5:01 to play and the score showing 65-63 Stevens.
Empire 8 Rookie of the Year Jared Suderly (Newport, N.Y.) tied the game for the sixth time with a jumper at the 4:37 mark, and the Hawks went up three on a dunk from freshman guard Anthony Keane (Staten Island, N.Y.) with 2:47 to go.
Smith hit 1-of-2 at the line on the Ducks' next possession to cut the lead to two, and after a stop, a nifty move in the paint by Smith tied the game at 69-all with a little more than two minutes to go. Junior forward Chris Ryder (Port Washington, N.Y.) converted two free throws to put Hartwick back up two with 1:36 remaining, and the see-saw second half continued when a Jones jumper following a pair of offensive rebounds tied the score at 71 with 1:15 left.
Franklin put the Ducks on top one last time thanks to 1-of-2 at the line from Hartwick and a layup on the other end for the senior. A pair of Ryder hits from the charity stripe gave Hartwick the lead at 74-73 at the 16 second mark and Stevens was not able to connect on its final two possessions to give the Hawks a 76-73 win and berth in the conference final.
Blazek scored a game-high 19 points thanks to three three-pointers and Keane, Suderly, and Ryder were all in double figures as well. Hartwick shot 47.1 percent (24-for-51) from the field, 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from long range, and 19-for-23 (82.6 percent from the line).
The Ducks were led by Jones' 18 points and four assists and Smith's 16 points, 18 rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Junior guard Mike Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) had 15 points, and sophomore guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) added 14. Franklin tallied eight points and seven boards as the Ducks ended with a 38-22 edge on the glass.
Stevens shot 52.7 percent (29-for-55) from the floor and 7-for-15 (46.7 percent) from three-point land. The Ducks were 8-for-14 from the line. The second half featured seven lead changes and eight ties.