LOUIS ALEXADER PALESTRA – Rochester used a lengthy first-half scoring run to take command enroute to a 79-53 victory over SUNY Cortland in the opening round of the UR men's Chuck Resler Invitational on Friday night.
The win puts the Yellowjackets (2-0) into the Resler championship game. Rochester will meet high-scoring Southern Virginia which defeated Houghton College, 100-77, in the other semifinal. Cortland and Houghton will play at 1 pm on Saturday. Rochester and Southern Virginia will play at 6 pm. The UR-Southern Virginia matchup is the same for both genders of the Resler tournament. Rochester's women will play Southern Virginia's women for the title at 8 pm.
UR's balanced attack showed three men in double figures. Brian Amabilino Perez scored 13 points. Ross Gang and Matt Niemczura had 10 apiece. Trent Noordsij, T.C. Price and Kekoapookela McArdle scored eight points. Cortland's scoring leader was Austin Grunder with 12 points, Eric Edwards had seven points, and Humberto Cabrera had six.
A three-pointer from Cabrera pulled the Red Dragons within 10-8 with seven minutes gone in the first half. The Cortland shooting turned cold. Rochester went on a 25-7 run over seven minutes to build a 35-15 lead with three minutes left in the half. It was 42-19 at halftime. Noordsij scored five of the points and Amabilino Perez had four. Eight players contributed.
Rochester hit 54.5% from the field for the game (30-55) and 47% outside the three-point line (7-15). Cortland had trouble finding a shooting rhythm in the first 20 minutes (7-27, 26%; 2-3, 15% on treys). The Red Dragons finished at 38% for the game overall, 21% beyond the arc.
UR scored 44 points in the paint and turned nine offensive rebounds into 12 second chance points. The Yellowjackets scored 16 points on the break.
In Southern Virginia, the Yellowjackets will find an opponent that goes into high gear right at the star. SVU broke the Palestra record for three-point field goal attempts (47, set in 2017 by Case Western Reserve). They made 21 against Houghton. That is two behind Rochester's record of 23, established in the Chuck Resler tournament in 2013 against D'Youville College.
Conner Marchant scored 22 points for SVU, including six treys. Aaron Leavitt added 17 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench. He hit 4 of 6 from outside the arc. Leavitt had 11 rebounds. Jesse Barker scored 16 points, Isaiah Marchant had 13, and Elliot Spencer scored 11, to go with 10 rebounds.
Jordan Holmes of Houghton scored 22 points on 8-14, 3-7 accuracy. He collected six rebounds and two assists. Billy McCrae scored 13 points and grabbed seven boards.