WILKES-BARRE, PA – The 'Wick men's basketball team lost by a final score of 89-72 on Sunday in the consolation game of the King's College FNCB Bank Monarch Classic at McGrane Gymnasium in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Hartwick closes 2018 with an overall mark of 4-5. The Griffins improve to 7-4.
            All eight Hawks that saw action made it into the scoring column. Justin Carruthers (Greenwich, NY/Greenwich), who shot 8-of-10 from the floor, finished with a team-high 16 points. Tommy Kelly (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) chipped in 14 points and five assists. Kyle Bradshaw (Tinton Hills, NY/Brookdale CC) contributed 13 points and four rebounds and Pat Garey (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) scored 10 to go along with four boards and four assists.
            The Hawks would get off to a slow start for the second straight day as they fell behind by 13 points in the first six minutes. The Griffin advantage grew to 15 with 11:23 left in the half and a 6-0 spurt over a two-minute span pushed it to 19 with under eight minutes to go. Buckets from Carruthers and Sam Hanley (Cranston, RI/Cranston East) trimmed the lead to 14 points a minute later, but Gwynedd Mercy scored the next 10 to grab its biggest lead of the half, 41-17, with 4:16 left. Hartwick ended the half with 12 of the last 19 points to head into the locker room down 48-29.
            Kelly's nine points led the Hawks at the break. He was followed by Garey, who netted seven.
            'Wick started the second half making only 2-of-9 shots with five turnovers in the first five and a half minutes as the Griffins turned their 19-point halftime lead into a 32-point advantage with an 18-5 run.
            The Hawks answered with a 26-7 run of their own over the next 6:22 to trim the gap to 13 points, 75-62. Six Hawks contributed in the rally with Carruthers and Bradshaw each scoring six points and Bobby Connors (Rockville Centre, NY/Chaminade) contributing five. Hartwick closed the gap to 13 points three more times over the next three and a half minutes but it would be as close as it would get.
            Connors ended the contest with a game-high 12 rebounds for the Hawks. He also tied for a game-high with six assists. Hanley finished with seven points. Calvin Seward (Bridgeport, CT/Fairchild Wheeler) added five points and four rebounds. For his efforts on the weekend, Carruthers was selected to the All-Tournament Team.
            'Wick made 50% of its shots in the second half to close the game making 42.4% (25-for-59) as a group. The Griffins made 43.1%. They out-rebounded the Hawks 41-33 and turned 17 'Wick turnovers into 22 points.           
            Clayton Wolfe paced Gwynnedd Mercy with 25 points. Rich Dunham scored 19.
            Hartwick is idle for close to three weeks before it opens up Empire 8 Conference play at defending champion Nazareth College on January 4.
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