Rochester, NY – Nazareth saw career-performances from Daniel Jacob (20 points) and Stephen Gabel (16 points) to earn its third-straight victory, 92-77, Friday night against Harwtick.  The Golden Flyers pulled away late in the second half to avenge an 85-69 loss to the Hawks back on January 20.

The win for Nazareth (14-6 overall, 9-2 Empire 8), sets up a pivotal matchup on Saturday against Stevens (16-4 overall, 10-1 Empire 8) for first place in the conference.  Nazareth handed the Ducks their lone conference loss of the season, 96-89, earlier in the year.  Stevens dropped Fisher 87-81 Friday night.

It was a blistering opening 20 minutes, with Nazareth shooting 64.5 percent (20-for-30) and Hartwick 66.7 percent (20-for-31).  With the torrid shooting, the Golden Flyers had just seven rebounds in the half.

Each team started 4-for-6 from 3-point range for some early scoring.  A triple from Brendan Broderick brought Nazareth to within 18-16 nearly seven minutes in.

Nazareth finished the half with eight 3-pointers (8-for-14), including Gabel connecting on back-to-back possessions with under two minutes in the half. He was 5-for-5 from the field for 14 points in the first. 

Jacob had a strong output as well, going 4-for-6, for 10 points. 

The Golden Flyers held a 52-48 halftime lead. 

Jacob continued his aggressive attack in the second, scoring eight quick points to go over his previous career-high of 17 points. 

The game remained close, within single digits, until a layup from Tyler Stenglein at 5:16 gave the Golden Flyers a double digit lead the rest of the way.  The senior went for 22 points (9-for-16) and four assists.

Jake Burgio was also in double figures with 15 points (6-for-11) and seven rebounds.

Brendan Wind notched seven points and seven assists in the win. 

Nazareth finished the game 33-for-63 (52.4 percent) from the floor.