ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick (10-5, 2-2 E8) took out defending Empire 8 champion Alfred (7-7, 1-2 E8) on Friday night as the Hawks grabbed the advantage after six and a half minutes and held onto it for the final 33 in a 70-61 triumph. The victory is Hartwick's 10th of the season and the team gets back to .500 in the Empire 8 at 2-2. It also stops a four-game winless streak for the Hawks against the Saxons.
Bobby Connors (Rockville Centre, NY/Chaminade) shot 7-of-11 from the floor, 4-of-5 from three-point range, and hit all four free-throw attempts to finish tied for a game-high with 22 points. He added a game-high 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double to go along with three assists, and two steals. Austin Haskell (Kirkwood, NY/Susquehanna Valley) contributed 16 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Pat Garey (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) recorded 15 points, a game-best four steals, and two assists.
After falling behind 8-0 in the early stages of the first half, the Hawks settled in and rattled off 15 straight points to gain the upper hand for the rest of the night. Garey would score nine in the run.
The Hartwick lead grew to 11 under the nine-minute mark after a Tommy Kelly (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) three-pointer made it 20-9. It swelled to 14 points, 30-16, on a Connors' layup at 4:13 and the Hawks opened up their biggest lead of the half, 35-19, on a Kyle Bradshaw (Tinton Falls, NJ/Manasquan) trey with just over a minute left.
'Wick led 37-23 at half with Connors dropping in 11 on 5-of-6 shooting. Garey added 11.
Liam Drennan's (Oyster Bay, NY/Chaminade) tip-in early in the second half handed the Hawks a 20-point lead at 44-24 only to have the Saxons cut it to single digits, 44-35, two and a half minutes later. A 10-2 Hawks' run built the advantage back to 17 at the 12:32 mark and 'Wick maintained a margin of 13 points or better for the next nine minutes.
The Saxons refused to go down, however, as they cut the 'Wick lead to just six with 1:37 to play following Sam Dagon's bucket. The visitors got the ball back and a three to make it a one-possession game from Cole Eells was off the mark. They never got any closer as the Hawks came through from the line, making 3-of-4 in the next 22 seconds to put the game away and seal the victory.
The Hawks were 23-of-55 (41.8%) from the floor as a group and 8-of-21 (38.1%) from beyond the three-point arc. The Saxons were limited to 25-of-70 (35.7%) from the floor and they made just 20% from three-point range on 5-of-20 shooting. AU had the edge on the glass, 43-39.
Kelly closed out the night with eight points for the Hawks. Bradshaw scored six, grabbed seven rebounds, and registered a College-high five blocked shots.
Alfred was led by Dagon's 22 points. Brewster Marshall scored 20 and Elliott Bowen chipped in 11.
Hartwick is back at it tomorrow against Houghton in another Empire 8 contest beginning at 3 p.m.
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