ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick held off a late charge from Eastern Connecticut State University on Friday night, knocking off the Warriors 74-71 at Lambros Arena in the second game of the 2014 Holiday Inn Classic.
            'Wick led by nine with 2:20 remaining but the Warriors trimmed it to two with 2.9 seconds left. Trachone Preston went to the line with a chance to tie the game but he missed his second shot and the Hawks grabbed the rebound. Hartwick had the basketball with 0.4 seconds left but an intentional foul on the Warriors put Glenn Gavan (Newton, NJ/Pope John XXIII) on the line. He sank both his shots and the Hawks maintained possession on the in-bounds to close out the victory.
            Hartwick had five players in double figures and hit 12-for-23 (52.2%) from beyond the three-point line. They also out-rebounded the Warriors 39-32.
            Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown) paced the Hawks with a team-best 20 points. He also drained six three-point baskets to go along with five rebounds. Matt Petruccione (Saratoga Springs, NY/Bishop Maginn) added 12 points on four treys and Matt Wilson (Shelton, CT/Franklin & Marshall College), Joey Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle), and Jake Sinicki (Endicott, NY/Maine-Endwell) each had 10 points.
            The Warriors grabbed an early 14-7 lead in the game as they couldn't miss, making their first five shots from the floor in the opening four minutes. The Hawks responded and took a brief lead, 15-14, on a Petruccione three-pointer but 14 seconds later Preston gave the Warriors a one-point edge with 14 minutes left in the half and they held the lead for the next six minutes.
            Later, Preston gave his team a five-point lead but five straight points from Sinicki and another bucket from Trevor Norton (Mullica Hill, NJ/Ursinus College) put the Hawks ahead for another 34 seconds. Eastern Connecticut regained the advantage but a huge 13-2 run for the Hawks over the final 3:12 handed them a 44-35 lead at the half. Pratt hit two three's with Petruccione adding one in the spurt.
            Hartwick led the whole way in the second half although the Warriors didn't make it easy. Twice the Hawks had 10-point leads early in the period. A Hugh Lindo dunk, however, trimmed the margin to just two points, 53-51, with just over 13 minutes remaining. But a three from Lufkin and buckets from Sinicki and Gavan quickly built the advantage back up to nine.
            'Wick got it to double digits again, 64-54, with 6:14 left and later had a nine-point lead after back-to-back three-pointers from Petruccione with 2:20 showing on the clock and it appeared the hawks were headed to the victory.
            Five straight Preston points sandwiched around a Hartwick turnover and the lead was suddenly only four, 70-66, 1:30 later. Hartwick couldn't convert on the offensive end and a Tarchee Brown dunk made it a two-point contest, 70-68, with under a minute left. Lufkin connected on a jumper with 30 ticks remaining to make it a two-possession game, 72-68. A layup at the other end by David Canny cut it to two 16 seconds later.
            Another Hartwick turnover gave the Warriors the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead. A foul put Preston on the line with less than three seconds left but he couldn't convert the pair allowing 'Wick the win.     
            Hartwick improved to 2-2 overall in the game. The Warriors fall to 3-1.
            Wilson registered a game-high nine rebounds for Hartwick. Pratt added five boards.
            Preston had a game-high 27 points for the Warriors. Brandon Yarborough added 11 points and Brown ended the night with 10.
            Hartwick looks to make it two in a row tomorrow against SUNY Cobleskill. The Fighting Tigers lost to SUNY Oneonta by a 90-52 margin in the opener.