ROCHESTER, NY - Hartwick's men's basketball team led by as many 11 points in the second half and hung on after a wild final minute for a 52-50 victory over Fredonia State in the ECAC Upstate Tournament semifinals on Friday night at St. John Fisher College. The victory is the Hawks' fifth straight and puts them into tomorrow's 2 p.m. championship game where they will face the host Cardinals, who earned a 72-71 semifinal win over Oswego State.
With the score tied at 47-47 with under a minute to play, senior A.J. Beaulieu (Chicopee, MA) nailed a three-pointer to give the Hawks three-point edge with 32 seconds remaining. After the Blue Devils missed on a chance to tie, senior Jan Cocozziello (Scotch Plains, NJ) went to the line to build on the HC lead with 27 seconds to play, but missed on the front end of a one-and-one.
FSU's Scott Valenta converted a layup with 16 ticks left to cut the lead to one, but Mark Blazek (Erie, PA) would make it a 52-49 game with 13 seconds on the clock as he connected on a pair of free throws. A 'Wick foul put Fredonia leading scorer Brad Cooper to the line with eight seconds to go but he missed on a one-and-one opportunity causing the Devils to foul Hartwick senior Ramond Doyley (Yonkers, NY). With six seconds left and a chance to ice the game, Doyley could not get either of his free throws to fall giving Fredonia a life line once again.
The Hawks were then whistled for an intentional foul with 2.6 seconds left which gave the Blue Devils two shots from the line and the ball back down three points. Wayne Davis would make one of two from the foul line to make it 52-50 and Cooper put up a three-pointer to win the game at the horn, but the shot was off the mark.
Blazek would finish as the game's high scorer with 16 points including 4-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc. Cocozziello scored 15 points and earned four steals. He needs a 27-point effort tomorrow in his final collegiate game to break the all-time 'Wick scoring record. Beaulieu ended the game with nine points, including the big three-point basket in the final minute, and dished out a game-high four assists. Albe Hulick (Greenville, NY) contributed six point and five rebounds, and Doyley grabbed a game-high nine boards.
Greg MacBride led a balanced Fredonia attack with 10 points. Cooper and Valenta finish with nine points apiece.
Hartwick, which managed just 19 second-half points in the victory, opened up its biggest lead of the game early in the second session following a 7-0 run as senior Mike Tracy (Morris, NY) drained a three, Hulick converted a jumper, and Doyley sank a layup for a 40-29 edge with 17 minutes to play. Over the next nine and a half minutes, the Hawks would manage just one bucket as the Blue Devils went on a 15-2 run to take a 44-42 lead with 7:46 to go.
Cocozziello, however, would finish off a three-point play and Blazek hit a jumper to make the score 47-44 Hartwick with 7:11 to play. Neither team would muster a point for nearly six minutes as the two sides combined to shoot 0-for-10 from the field and 0-for-3 from the foul line before a Fredonia free throw broke the scoreless streak with 1:25 left. Cooper would add a basket with 51 ticks left before Beaulieu's triple put the Hawks up by three.
The Hawks now advance to their fifth ECAC Championship game in school history and first since 1995. 'Wick will look to capture its first title as the four previous trips to the final ended in defeat. The Hawks and St. John Fisher Cardinals split their season series in 2008-09. Fisher took an 11-point win at home in early January with Hartwick gaining revenge at Lambros Arena with a 52-51 win over the then-No. 21 ranked Cardinals.
