HOUGHTON, NY- Key contributions off the bench and hot shooting in the second half were the catalyst for the Hartwick men's basketball team as it defeated Houghton 92-81 on Friday night at the Nielson Center. The win gives the Hawks a record of 15-9 while the Highlanders fall to 3-21.
The Hawks trailed Houghton 45-36 at halftime. The second half was a different story as 'Wick outscored the Highlanders 56-36 while shooting 16-of-28 (57.1%) from the field and was a scorching 5-of-8 (62.5%) from beyond the three-point arc.
Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown) came off the bench to lead the Hawks in scoring with 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting including 4-of-5 in three-point shots in 21 minutes of game time. Joey Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) dropped 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting and was 9-of-12 from the free throw line. He also tied a season-high with five steals.
Matt Petruccione (Saratoga Springs, NY/Bishop Maginn) scored 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Glenn Gavan (Newton, NJ/Pope John XXIII) contributed 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Jared Suderley (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley) finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Highlanders received 14 points and six rebounds from both Cullen Overholt and Tyler McQuaid. Jordan Christensen chipped in 13 points.
Houghton started hot early on in the first half as it got out to a 16-6 lead at 15:28. The Hawks would knock the deficit down to five points, 19-14, at 13:38.
The Highlanders came back and restored the lead to 10 points, 25-15, at 11:36. A 9-2 'Wick run got the Hawks to within three points, 27-24, at 8:36.
The Hawks still only trailed by three points with 7:22 remaining in the half. A 14-3 Highlander run pushed Houghton ahead 43-30 with just over two minutes remaining in the first period. Hartwick closed out the first half on a 6-2 run to make it a nine point deficit.
The late momentum in the first half carried over to the second as 'Wick scored nine straight points to tie the game at 45-45 with 16:16 showing on the game clock. Houghton took the lead back for just over four minutes but the Hawks recovered to take their first lead of the game, 53-52, at 11:52.
The Hawk lead was brief after the Highlanders tied it up at 55-all with 10:44 showing on the game clock. From there, 'Wick embarked on a 21-8 run that spanned nearly six and a half minutes to surge ahead 77-63 with 3:25 left to play in the game. The Highlanders never got to within 10 points as the Hawks hit 15 out of 22 free throw attempts to come away with the victory.
"We overcame a bad start to pull away in the second half, said head coach Todd McGuinness. "Houghton was one fire in the first half and we didn't find their shooters. We had five guys in double figures and shot the ball well from three."
The victory was significant for McGuinness as he past Tom Greene (1950-1956) for third place in career wins. With a record of 77-51, McGuinness trails only Nick Lambros' (1977-1998) record of 353-191 and Roy Chipman's (1968-1977) mark of 166-55.
'Wick finished the game shooting 27-of-50 (54%) in field goals to 29-of-61 (47.5%) for Houghton. The Hawks were 10-of19 (52.6%) overall from three-point range compared to 15-of-30 (50%) for the Highlanders.
The Hawks had advantages in the paint (28-18) and in bench points (41-31). Hartwick led in rebounds, 34-32, and had 10 steals to just five for the Highlanders.
Hartwick returns to Lambros Arena tomorrow afternoon for Senior Day. The Hawks will go against Elmira at 3 p.m. A win by the Hawks will give them hosting rights for the Empire 8 Tournament.