Men’s Basketball Triumphs in First Battle of the Beaks Showdown of the Season

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Nazareth men’s basketball headed down the road on Tuesday night to take on crosstown rival St. John Fisher, where they triumphed in a 2-point win. With three seconds left, Jaylen Savage scored the go-ahead layup to ultimately defeat the Cardinals on their home floor. Savage led the team in both points and rebounds with 24 and eight.

With the win, Nazareth’s record improves to 13-5 overall and 8-1 in conference play and the Cardinal’s record drops to 6-12 overall and 2-7 in the conference.

As to be expected when the beaks cross paths, the beginning of the first half was very back and forth. Fisher started pulling ahead about six minutes into the game and by the 11:13 mark, the Cardinals held a lead of eight. However, for the next three minutes, the Golden Flyers went on an 8-0 run to tie the game up at 22. The two teams then went back to trading baskets, Keeping the game to a one-point difference at 38-37 in favor of the Cardinals heading into the second half.

Scoring for the Golden Flyers in the first half was Savage with 11, Jack Broderick with 10, Merritt Holly with six, Luke Insley with four, and Solomon McFarlane and Tyler Putneywith three each.

The battle continued in the second half, neither team holding a multi-possession lead until just over six minutes in when Nazareth went up 51-47. By the 9:52 minute mark, the Golden Flyers held the first double-digit lead of the game at 61-51.

With four minutes left in the game, Nazareth was up 72-63 when the Cardinalds went on an eight-point run to cut the lead down to one with just over 2 minutes left to play. With one minute left to play, Nazareth had gotten the lead back up to five at 77-72 following two made free-throws from Holly. Following Holly’s free-throws, Fisher went down to score a three at the other end, but Savage answered with a jumper at the 40 second mark, Nazareth up 79-75.

With 27 seconds left, Holly stole the ball and got fouled, making his first from the line. Fisher then went to the other end and scored another three. The score was 80-78 Nazareth with 21 seconds left. After the three, Fisher stole an inbound attempt and scored an and-one layup to tie it up at 80-80 with 18 seconds left. Following a Nazareth timeout, the Cardinals missed the free-throw, and Savage rebounded. With five seconds left, Savage still had the ball. He drove around two defenders and scooped a layup around a third to put Nazareth up by two with three seconds left to play. With no timeouts left, the Cardinals tried to heave a pass up court, but they threw it away and the Golden Flyers secured the victory at 82-80.

Savage led the Golden Flyers in points and rebounds with 24 and eight, while also adding two assists. Freshman Holly was the next highest-scorer at 21 points and three rebounds. J Broderick was the third Golden Flyer in double-digits with 12, while also pulling down two rebounds. Insley and McFarlane each added nine points to the scoreboard, while Insley led the team in assists with six and added two rebounds, and McFarlane grabbed four rebounds. Putney scored five total points and grabbed three rebounds, while Gabe Lucarelli added two points and two rebounds, and teammate Liam Hopwood grabbed three rebounds.

The Golden Flyers will be back on the road on January 31 at 7:30 p.m. to take on SUNY Poly.

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