The Husson men’s and women’s basketball teams continued North Atlantic Conference play on Friday evening, with their first league road games of the season at Campus Center Gym against SUNY-Poly in Utica, New York.
In the women’s game- In a rematch of last season’s league championship game won by SUNY-Poly, the Husson Eagles stayed unbeaten in NAC action with a 77-47 win over the home Wildcats. Husson never trailed, leading by as many as 10 in the first half behind 10 points from Makaelyn Porter. SUNY-Poly did slice the deficit to one point twice in the second quarter on baskets by Lyrik Jackson, but the guests ended the opening 20 minutes on a 7-0 run on a jumper by Porter, a three-pointer by Lauren Cook, and a jumper from Vanessa Duarte for an eight point advantage. Husson took over in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats 36-14 that included a 21-5 third quarter. Bailey Donovan led four players in double figures in the win with 16 points, nine rebounds, and three steals. Porter and Sophia McVicar both had 12 points, while Duarte chipped in 11. Molly Burdick had 14 points and 12 rebounds in the loss for SUNY-Poly. Jackson finished with 13 points. The Wildcats fall to 5-9, 3-2 in conference play.
In the men’s game- Scott Lewis came up big for Husson with a late game winning three-pointer that catapulted the Eagles to a 64-61 victory over SUNY-Poly. It was all Wildcats early, as they raced out to an 11-1 lead 6:08 into the first half. Husson cut the deficit to just three at the half 33-30 on a late three-pointer by Luke Caruso and a basket from Jared Balser. Five points from Corey Humbles to open the second half gave the guests their first lead of the night 35-33. They went back and forth with neither team leading by more than three for a majority of the final 20 minutes. Milos Sujica made a layup and got fouled with 2:12 left to make it 57-55 Eagles, but would miss the free throw. Sujica was able to grab the offensive rebound that led to a layup by Lewis for a 59-55 edge. SUNY-Poly came right back with a layup by Mitch Kernizan 20 seconds later, and would then force a Jeremy Moronta turnover that Jesse O’Dell turned into a layup to tie it and was fouled. O’Dell missed the free throw, and Husson got the rebound. Justice Kendall would miss a shot in the paint on the next Eagles possession, and O’Dell grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot on the other end and scored to give the Wildcats a 61-59 lead with 36 seconds remaining. Lewis stepped back and calmly drained the game winning three-pointer off an assist from Kendall 10 seconds later. Kendall would steal the ball away from O’Dell with six seconds to go, and Moronta was fouled and sank both free throws. The hosts got one more look to try to send it to overtime, but a three-pointer at the buzzer by Cheickne Toure would miss. Lewis led the way in the win with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Kendall had 11 points and five assists. Moronta finished with nine points and 11 rebounds, and Humbles chipped in eight points. Toure led all scorers in the loss for SUNY-Poly with 23 points, O’Dell had 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Kernizan also had a double double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Wildcats fall to 7-9, 2-4 in conference play.
The Husson women’s team is now 10-4, while the men go to 6-8 and both are 4-0 in the North Atlantic Conference. The Eagles teams both play Saturday afternoon at Cazenovia College.
Recaps written by Chris Lessner
