Sharp Shooting Men’s Basketball Tames Wildcats
UTICA, N.Y. – Nazareth men’s basketball defeated SUNY Poly on the road on Friday night, out-shooting the Wildcats by 20 percent. Merritt Holly had a double-double, leading the team in both buckets and boards with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
With the win, Nazareth’s record improves to 14-5 overall and 9-1 in conference play, while the Wildcats drop to 12-7 overall and 7-3 in the conference.
Nazareth came out strong in the first half, holding a double-digit lead after about nine minutes of play. In the final 11 minutes of the first half, SUNY Poly battled back a little bit, trading buckets with the Golden Flyers to keep Nazareth’s lead at 11 heading into the second half. In the first half, the Golden Flyers shot 45.16 percent from the field and 42.86 percent from the three.
In the second half, the Flyers stepped it up even more, going 31-60 from the field to shoot an impressive 58.62 percent including 2-5 from behind the arc. Nazareth’s numbers proved to be hard to rally against, and SUNY Poly fell to the Golden Flyers at a score of 74-56.
Holly went 9-10 from the field and 3-3 from the free-throw line to earn his 21-point, 12-rebound double-double. The next highest scorer was Jack Broderick with 15 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Luke Insleydropped 13 points, dished out six assists, and pulled down four rebounds. Tyler Putneyadded 11 points to the board, and grabbed two rebounds. Jaylen Savage tallied seven points on the night, while also grabbing six boards, serving three assists, and having two steals. Ryan Broderick and Will Burnettadded three and two points respectively, while Solomon McFarlane also had two points and two rebounds. Liam Hopwood was also on the sheet with four rebounds.
The Golden Flyers will be back in action on February 1 at 4 p.m. at Utica for another conference match-up.
22-Point Halftime Lead Squandered As Men’s Hoops Falls to Utica in Overtime
UTICA, NY – The Nazareth men’s basketball team let a 22-point halftime lead slip away as the Golden Flyers fell 87-77 to Utica University on Saturday. Junior Jaylen Savage led all scorers with 24 points, to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.
Nazareth falls into second place in the Empire 8 with the loss, now trailing Brockport for the top spot – the two squads square off on Friday in Brockport at 7:30 p.m. The Golden Flyers are now 14-6 overall and 9-2 in conference play, while Utica is 13-7 and 7-4, respectively.
It was a great start for Nazareth as a 3-pointer from Ryan Broderick at the 13:29 mark gave the visitors a 15-6 lead. Utica never really challenged in the half and the lead was 45-23 at the break.
After shooting just 29 percent in the first half, the Pioneers turned it around to shoot 54.3 percent in the second on 19-for-35 from the floor.
The Golden Flyers largest lead was 53-27 early in the second half. Nazareth then went ice cold from the floor over a nearly ten-minute span, shooting just 1-for-14, allowing the Pioneers to go on a 24-4 run to close within 57-51.
Nazareth held the lead until a bucket at the 3:05 mark tied the game at 64.
Savage buried a pair of free throws to go up 70-68 with :21 seconds remaining but Utica converted a rebound to tie the game as time expired and send the game into overtime.
Utica dominated the overtime, outscoring Nazareth 17-7.
Solomon McFarlane converted 5-of-10 3-pointers en route to 17 points, to go along with six rebounds, and four steals.
Merritt Holly was good for 14 points and seven boards, while Tyler Putney had 10 points and six rebounds.