ONEONTA, NY – In a much-needed win, the Hartwick men's basketball team (16-8, 9-6 E8) gutted out a nail biter over Nazareth, 80-79, on Friday night at Lambros Arena. The Hawks found themselves down 79-72 with under a minute to play, but rallied for the final eight points over the last 54 ticks of the night for a miraculous 80-79 victory.
A Justin Pratt (North Kingstown, RI/North Kingstown HS) jumper, which also awarded him a trip to the line where he successfully converted the three-point play, made it a two possession game, 79-75, with 54 seconds to go.
Naz's Cody Green missed the front end of his one-and-one opportunity and 11 seconds later Brandon LaForest (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes HS) cashed in on a three-pointer on the other end to trim the gap to one, 79-78, with 39 seconds left.
Brendan Wind was then sent to the line with 20 seconds to go but he missed his first free throw and the Hawks grabbed the rebound. With the clock ticking down, LaForest drove into the paint and delivered a perfect bounce pass to Justin Carruthers (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich HS) who netted the game-winning layup with five seconds showing on the clock. Wind had one last chance just before the buzzer but his jumper was off the mark.
LaForest rattled off 11 assists in the game and registered his first double-double of the season with a game-high 24 points. He also hit a trio of three-pointers.
Early scoring eruptions flared from Pratt and Marc du Moulin (Altamont, NY/Guilderland) who each contributed a dozen first-half points. While Pratt knocked down four shots from distance, du Moulin shot an impressive 85.7 percent from the floor (6-of-7) in the opening half. The duo would match 15 points by the final buzzer.
The first of Pratt's four triples opened the scoring at Lambros for either team as the Hawks gained an advantage they held through the first five minutes.
The Hawks matched their largest lead three times throughout the first 20 minutes, the final time capped by Corey Baker (Granby, MA/Granby) who found an opening down low.
Nazareth (15-9, 9-6 E8) scored seven points in the first couple of minutes of the second half to even the ball game, 44-up. From there, it was a back-and-forth affair as each team remained in striking distance of one another.
The Hawks were able to contain the streaking Wind to just eight first-half points and 18 for the game, something no other team has been able to do through Nazareth's last three contests.
Four Golden Flyers' attained double-figuring scoring totals also led by Green as he matched Wind's team-high tally. Jake Burgio was credited a double-double of 16 points and 11 boards.
Hartwick has now won four of its last five and is still battling for a postseason berth with one game left with St. John Fisher tomorrow. While the Cardinals have already claimed the regular season title, the next three spots will not be finalized until league play concludes tomorrow. Hartwick, Nazareth, and Utica are all tied for third in the standings at 9-6. A win tomorrow against Fisher would put the Hawks into the playoffs. Naz plays at Stevens with Utica hosting Elmira.
Before tomorrow's 5 p.m. tip-off, 'Wick will honor its three seniors, Pratt, Joey Lufkin (Argyle, NY/Argyle), and Stavros Kerchoulas (Athens, Greece/Athens College).