READING, PA – Buena Vista University outscored Hartwick 55-38 in the first half on its way to a 100-78 victory over the Hawks in the championship game of the Albright Holiday Tournament on Tuesday evening in Reading, PA. With the loss, the Hawks slip to 5-4 on the season. The Beavers, out of Storm Lake, IA, improve to 7-4.
            Senior Matt Petruccione (Saratoga Springs, NY/Bishop Maginn), and juniors Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown) and Trevor Norton (Mullica Hill, NJ/Ursinus College) had 14 points apiece for the Hawks. Joe Krong (Amsterdam, NY/Franklin & Marshall College) and Jake Sinicki (Endicott, NY/Maine-Endwell) each scored eight and Ryan Simone (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) contributed seven.
            All five starters for the Beavers were in double figures, led by tournament MVP Nick Clark's 23 points. Kennedy Drey and Cole Darrow each tallied 15 points.
            Both Norton and Sinicki were selected to the All-Tournament Team for their efforts. They joined Drey and Alex Savage from Buena Vista and Josh Marquez from Albright.
           Clark started the game with eight points, including two three-pointers as the Hawks trailed 8-2. The Beavers increased their lead to nine, 21-12, but the Hawks would get it down to one point twice with under ten minutes left in the half.
            After a Krong layup with 8:56 remaining, Hartwick pulled to within one, 28-27, but a 14-2 Buena Vista run made it a 15-point contest, 44-29. The Hawks got as close as 11 but the Beavers closed the first half on a 7-1 run to enter halftime up 55-38.
            After the lead hovered around 20 for the first six minutes of the second half, a Pratt layup cut the Hartwick deficit to 15 points with 13:01 to go. A Tyler Kastantin three followed by two Clark free throws however, made the score 68-48 with 12:12 left and Buena Vista would not lead by less than 20 points the rest of the night.      
            The Hawks shot 40.5% (32-for-79) in the game but only made six of their 35 attempts from three-point range (17.1%). The Beavers held the edge on the glass, 51-38 and shot 54.3% (38-of-70) which included 10 treys.
            Sinicki led Hartwick in rebounding with seven. Pratt added six boards and Petruccione had five.
            The Hawks open up Empire 8 Conference play on Friday night at Lambros Arena against Houghton College at 8 p.m.