Men's Basketball

Naz Comes Back in Final Minute to Down 'Wick Men's Basketball

ONEONTA, NY - Nazareth went on a 8-2 run in the final 50 seconds of the game capped by Jeff DeHimer's pair of free throws with just over three seconds left to down Hartwick 69-67 on Sunday afternoon at Binder Gymnasium.

Jan Cocozziello (Scotch Plains, NJ) gave the Hawks a four-point lead, 65-61, with a jumper with just under a minute remaining. After an uncontested layup for Naz's Corey McAdam, the Hawks turned the ball over on the in-bounds play and allowed McAdam to tie the score with 46 seconds left. Cocozziello would answer at the opposite end of the floor giving the Hawks the lead before DeHimer scored from McAdam to tie it once more at 67 with 18.5 seconds to play.

Cocozziello was fouled on the ensuing Hartwick possession, but both of his free throws were off the mark allowing Naz to play for the last shot. The ball went to DeHimer who drove to the basket and was fouled with 3.1 seconds remaining. He calmly sank the pair and following a timeout, Mark Blazek's (Erie, PA) three-point attempt from 30 feet deflected off the rim and out to allow Naz to escape with the 69-67 victory.

The Hawks led by as many as eight points, 27-19, in the first half after going on a 10-3 run from the 12-minute to the four-minute mark with Cocozziello fueling the spurt with five points. 'Wick led by a count of 30-24 at the break, but the team started slow in the second session as Naz grabbed a 46-39 edge with a 22-9 run to start the period.

The lead would swell to nine points with under nine minutes remaining, but a 7-0 run over the next minute by HC cut the deficit to two points (53-51) with 7:37 to play. After the lead changed hands three times in the next minute and a half, a Ramond Doyley (Yonkers, NY) slam with 5:17 on the clock put the Hawks in front by a point and they held onto the advantage until the final minute of play when the Golden Flyers made their move.

Cocozziello scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks on 11 of 19 shooting. He connected on 4 of 5 from beyond the three-point line and added five rebounds and five assists. Blazek ended the contest with 18 points and Doyley grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

DeHimer led Nazareth with 17 points and eight rebounds. Ryan McAdam added 14 points, Corey McAdam netted 11 and Jason Corletta scored 10.

Hartwick next travels to Ithaca on Friday night for an 8 p.m. contest. On Saturday, the Hawks will square off with Elmira at 4 p.m.