Men's Basketball

Cocozziello Nets 30 in 80-72 Win at RIT

ROCHESTER, NY - Guard Jan Cocozziello (Scotch Plains, NJ), who entered the game averaging just under 30 points per game against RIT in seven career meetings, dropped in another 30, including 22 in the second half, to lead the Hartwick men's basketball team to a 80-72 victory over the Tigers at Clark Gymnasium. The victory improves 'Wick's record to 11-12 overall and keeps the team's postseason hopes alive with two games remaining on the schedule. RIT, which entered today's game in a tie for first place with Ithaca, slips to 17-6 and 12-2.

Cocozziello finished the game shooting 10 of 21 from the field, 2-for-4 from three-point range, and 8-of-10 from the line. He added six rebounds, six assists, and just one turnover on the day. With 1,782 career points, the senior standout is just 18 points from taking over third and 21 points shy of second place on Hartwick's career scoring list.

Seniors A.J. Beaulieu (Chicopee, MA) and Ramond Doyley (Yonkers, NY) contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Hawks. Mark Blazek (Erie, PA) scored 11 and hit three three-pointers.

The Tigers led Hartwick by as many as 13 points in the first half of play, but a Hawk run at the end of the period brought the deficit down to just three (28-25) at the break. 'Wick would struggle on the offensive end in the first 14 minutes of the game as the team managed just eight points and trailed 21-8 at the 6:16 mark. The Hawks would close the stanza on a 17-7 run in the final six minutes led by Cocozziello's six points to get right back into the game.

RIT built its lead back up to seven points twice in the opening four minutes of the second half, but 'Wick would come back to grab the lead in the next three minutes. Beaulieu would score seven straight Hartwick points and a pair of Hawk three-pointers (one from Beaulieu and one from Cocozziello) capped an 18-4 run to give the Hawks a seven-point edge (50-43) with just over 11 minutes to play.

RIT whittled the 'Wick lead down to three points, 57-54, with 7:39 remaining in the game, but a 9-1 run over the next 90 seconds would give the Hawks an insurmountable 11-point lead with 4:23 remaining. Doyley scored five points in the spurt, including an alley-oop slam delivered courtesy of a Martin McCann (Hopewell Junction, NY) pass.

The Tigers slowly chipped away at the Hawk lead in the closing minutes, getting as close as five points, 73-68, but Hartwick closed out the game hitting 10 of 12 from the free-throw line, including 7-of-8 with under a minute and a half to go to secure the victory.

Hartwick and RIT ended the game shooting an identical 45.8% (27 for 59) from the floor. The Hawks edged the Tigers in rebounds for the game 39-35.

The Hawks have now won three of their last four games and the 11 wins is the most for the program since the 2000-2001 season. 'Wick looks for its third straight victory on Friday evening at Alfred. In the last meeting with the Saxons on Jan. 9th, 16 three-pointers doomed Hartwick in an 89-82 setback.