ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick took the lead at the 18:49 mark of the first half and never relinquished it as it led by as many as 30 points in a convincing 86-58 win over visiting Houghton on Friday night at Lambros Arena. The game marked the Empire 8 Conference opener for both squads. The Hawks improve to 6-4 on the season while the Highlanders fall to 4-5.
            "Our guys played well, we moved the ball well and found open shooters," said Hartwick head coach Todd McGuinness. "We handled Houghton's press and made plays in transition."
            The Hawks shot 48% from the floor while knocking down five three-point baskets in the opening half, while holding the visitors to just 26% shooting.
            Leading 10-7 with five minutes elapsed in the first period, the Hawks went on an 11-3 run to open up a double-digit margin, 21-10, three minutes later.
            Houghton cut it to 12 but Hartwick closed the half on a 10-4 spurt to take a 43-25 advantage heading into the break.
            Trevor Norton (Mullica Hill, NJ/Ursinus College) led a balanced first-half attack with nine points with Joey Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle) and Ryan Simone (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) each registering eight.
            A three-point basket from Jake Sinicki (Endicott, NY/Maine-Endwell) early in the second half pushed the 'Wick lead to 22. The Highlanders twice got it back to 19 shortly thereafter but a Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown) three-pointer at 16:02 built it back up to 22 and the Hawks never led by less than 20 the rest of the night.
            The Hawks closed the contest making half of their shots from the floor (29-for-58). They also made 11 three-pointers, making just under 50% from beyond the arc (47.8%). The Highlanders were held to just 24-of-81 (29.6%) from the floor on the evening.
            Norton led four Hawks in double figures with 14 points. He added five rebounds. Lufkin and Simone each finished with 13 points and four rebounds. Glenn Gavan (Newton, NJ/Pope John XXIII) was also in double digits with 10 points and he grabbed a team-best seven boards.
            Pratt added nine points and six rebounds. Sinicki scored six points and Matt Petruccione (Saratoga Springs, NY/Bishop Maginn), Joe Krong (Amsterdam, NY/Franklin & Marshall College), Corey Baker (Granby, MA/Granby), and Marc du Moulin (Altamont, NY/Guilderland) each tallied four.     
            The Hawks try to make it a conference weekend sweep tomorrow against Alfred at 5 p.m.