Second Half Surge Pushes Men’s Basketball Past Randolph, 96-90
Story Links
Box Score Lynchburg, VA – Junior Jaylen Savage poured in 25 points on Tuesday night as the Nazareth men’s basketball team secured a 96-90 victory over Randolph at Turner Gym on the campus of Lynchburg.
Nazareth moves to .500 on the season at 4-3, while Randolph drops to 5-4.
The first half was closely contested throughout with Nazareth’s halftime lead of five, 47-42, the largest of the half. Tyler Putney nailed a 3-pointer late in the half and Ryan Broderick a two-pointer for the halftime lead.
Nazareth trailed by as many as 10 points in the second, including being down 73-65 with 8:32 to play. Over the next 4:12, the Golden Flyers went on a 15-0 run to completely turn to the tide of the game at 80-73.
A Savage layup with 1:40 on the clock gave Nazareth its largest lead of the game at 88-78 and the Golden Flyers took care of business the rest of the way. Savage showcased his scoring ability by hitting 10 field goals out of 21 attempts and adding four steals.
Luke Insley made a significant impact with his free-throw shooting, going 11-for-12 from the line, and contributed six assists. Putney excelled from beyond the arc, making 3-of-4 3-point attempts and finishing with 11 points. Merritt Holly had a perfect shooting night, converting all five of his shots and scoring 14 points, while also securing eight rebounds.
Nazareth returns to action on Wednesday, taking on Lynchburg at 1 p.m.
PLAYERS MENTIONED
#2 Ryan Broderick
G 5′ 11″ Senior
#14 Luke Insley
G 5′ 10″ Senior
#5 Tyler Putney
F 6′ 5″ Senior
#12 Jaylen Savage
G 6′ 2″ Junior
#30 Merritt Holly
F 6′ 6″ Freshman
Men’s Basketball Knocked Down in Overtime by Lynchburg
LYNCHBURG, V.A. – Nazareth men’s basketball was edged out by one in overtime (88-87) in the second game of a two-day series in Lynchburg Virginia against the Lynchburg Hornets. Among the six scorers for Nazareth, four were in double digits including Jaylen Savage and Merritt Holly leading the team with 22 each, Tyler Putney with 20, and Solomon McFarlane with 14.
In the first half, the Hornets jumped out two an eight-point lead eight minutes into game play, the biggest lead of the half. The two teams then went on trading buckets until there were six minutes left in the half, when McFarlane hit a three, and then followed the bucket with two good free throws less than 30 seconds later to bring the Hornet’s lead down to one. By the end of the half, Nazareth trailed Lynchburg by four.
Holly and McFarlane led the scoring in the first half with 10 each, followed by Putney with two from behind the arc for six points. Savage and Cameron Orr each added a three, while Luke Insley added two points.
In the second half, the Hornets were able to extend the lead to double-digits with 12 minutes left of regulation play, but within one minute, Nazareth cut the lead back down to three. With one minute and 40 seconds left in regulation, the Hornets were up by five. A steal and assist from McFarlane to Holly in the paint cut the lead to three with 56 seconds left. A missed layup from Lynchburg and a rebound from Holly gave Nazareth the possession with 30 seconds left. With 15 seconds left in regulation, Savage hit a three from McFarlane to tie the game and take the Hornets to overtime.
Scoring for the Golden Flyers in the second half was Savage with 15, Putney with 14, Holly with 12, and McFarlane with four.
Some more back-and-forth in overtime led to a tie score with one minute left in the five-minute-overtime. With 18 seconds left, Lynchburg led by three. Insley was then fouled with eight seconds left, making both in the 1-and-1 to cut the lead down to one. Some physical action in the last eight seconds of the game held the Golden Flyers at 87 to give Lynchburg the 88-87 overtime win.
In overtime, Insley led the scoring with four, while Savage added two.
Holly and Savage each had 22 points, as well as adding nine and six rebounds respectively. Putney added 20 points (18 from the three), as well as five rebounds and two steals. McFarlane had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals, while teammate Insley had six points, seven assists, and five rebounds. Orr had three points, while teammate Will Burnett added three rebounds.