Hamilton College took the lead with a 13-0 run midway through the second half and the Continentals pulled away late for an 82-65 non-conference win against the SUNY Polytechnic Wildcats at SUNY Poly's Campus Center Gym on Sunday night.

Hamilton (13-6 overall) shot 50 percent from the floor including 7 of 17 from 3-point range in the second half. The Continentals committed just eight turnovers and held a 30-4 advantage in bench points. Hamilton returns home for the first time in three weeks on Sunday, Feb. 2 for a NESCAC game against Wesleyan University at 1 p.m.

The Wildcats (8-8) shot 35.5 percent from the field but were able to stay in front for most of the first 30 minutes by going 19-for-24 at the free-throw line. SUNY Poly has just two wins in 36 all-time meetings with the Continentals.

Spencer Kendall '21 led Hamilton with 14 points and added a career-high eight rebounds. Kena Gilmour '20 chipped in 13 points and became the fifth player in team history to reach 1,800 for his career. Gilmour passed Michael Smith '92 (1,794 points) and currently sits at 1,801 points.

Sayo Denloye '20 contributed 11 points, four assists and two steals for the Continentals. Patrick Mogan '23 and Elliott Tirbaso '22 came off the bench to score 11 and 10 points, respectively. Eric Anderson '22 pulled down nine boards and Nick Osarenren '22 blocked three shots.

Josh Gregory paced the Wildcats with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Caleb Canty made all six of his free throw attempts and finished with 19 points along with three steals. Jesse O'Dell scored nine points.

Hamilton trailed 55-53 after an old-fashioned 3-point play by Canty with 10:13 left. The Continentals ran off 13 straight points during the next three minutes and didn't trail again. Tirbaso started the spurt with a 3-pointer and found Mogan for a layup. Tirbaso scored in the paint and added another basket from beyond the arc before Anderson nailed a 3-pointer for a 66-55 advantage with 7:05 remaining. Tirbaso made or had an assist on all five field goals during the game-changing run.

SUNY Poly made just three baskets during the last 10 minutes and didn't get closer than nine points down the stretch. Hamilton took its largest lead of 19 points at 82-63 on a layup by Gilmour in the final minute. Mogan scored all 11 of his points in the final 20 minutes.

The Wildcats controlled a good portion of the first half and led 24-12 after a layup by Gregory with 12:34 to go. The Continentals responded with an 18-5 run and took their first lead since it was 1-0 on a layup by Kendall that made it 30-29 with 7:42 left. Neither team led by more than four points the rest of the half and the score was deadlocked at 39-39 at the break. Hamilton's Mark Lutz '20 scored all nine of his points in the opening 20 minutes and Gregory had 19 for SUNY Poly at the half.

The teams remained close during the early part of the second half as five points was the largest lead for either squad until Tirbaso's last 3-pointer made it 63-55 with 7:47 remaining.