ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick men's basketball took a two-point lead into halftime and led for the entire second half in an 86-77 victory over visiting Nazareth on Tuesday at Lambros Arena. With the win, the Hawks maintain their lead atop the conference standings and avenge an earlier season loss to the Golden Flyers.
            The Hawks are 16-6 and 11-2 in E8 play. Naz is now 13-8 and 9-3.
            Trevor Norton (Mullica Hill, NJ/Ursinus College), who entered the game needing seven points for 1,000 career points, hit the mark with a jumper that rolled in with 6:58 left in the game which gave the Hawks a 67-55 advantage.
            Center Matt Wilson (Shelton, CT/Franklin & Marshall College) led Hartwick with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore forward Jake Sinicki (Endicott, NY/Maine Endwell) added 20 points and seven boards.
            The Hawks led for much of the opening 10 minutes of play before the two teams traded five leads over the last eight and a half minutes of the period. Neither team would grab an advantage larger than four points over the final 11 minutes before halftime.
            A Naz layup broke a 32-32 tie and the Golden Flyers led with 2:26 left. They held onto it until a Sinicki three-pointer with 11 seconds left put 'Wick in front at the break, 38-36.
            In the second half, Nazareth trimmed the lead to a single point, 47-46, but the Hawks would score 20 of the next 29 points with Norton's jumper giving them their biggest lead up to that point, 67-55. 'Wick would lead by at least seven points the rest of the night, grabbing its biggest advantage, 85-71, with less than two minutes left in the contest.

Norton, who finished the game with 15 points and four rebounds, scored 223 points in his first two seasons at Ursinus College. He now has 778 in two seasons at 'Wick.
            Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown) scored 14 points and made four three-pointers and four rebounds. Brandon LaForest (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) added 12 points, four boards, and three assists.
            The Hawks shot 46.7% as a group. They hit seven three-pointers. Naz made 43.3% from the field. They also connected on seven threes from outside the three-point arc and out-rebounded the Hawks narrowly, 38-37.
            Tyler Stenglein paced all scorers with 24 points for Nazareth. Maurice Mills added nine points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
            The Hawks stay a half game in front of St. John Fisher (10-2) in the battle for the regular season title. Hartwick next plays a week from today at Stevens. The Hawks play at Fisher on February 19.