By Brandy Thurston, Director of Sports Information
(Marcy, NY – Feb. 16, 2013) Visiting Morrisville State College men’s basketball used a 20-6 run in the opening minutes of the second period Saturday afternoon to close out the regular season with a 96-75 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victory over host SUNYIT in Marcy.
The Mustangs improve to 19-5 overall, 13-2 in conference play, while the Wildcats drop to 9-16, 7-8 overall in NEAC action.
Four posted double digits for Morrisville State, including junior guard Jordan Prior (Cortland, N.Y.) who came off the bench to register 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting from long range. Mickey Davis (Syracuse, N.Y.) added 14 points, while Rhamel Williams (Bronx, N.Y.) collected 13, adding three steals to his tallies.
Jailaan Kinsey (Syracuse, N.Y.) registered 11 points in the victory, and Brandon Hanks (Syracuse, N.Y.) dished out six assists. Kucjok Ater (Syracuse, N.Y.) snagged a team high eight rebounds, as Morrisville State held the 40-33 advantage on the glass.
Alex Drake led the SUNYIT efforts, posting 17 points, while Desmian Greer added 15. T’Andre Richardson and Kaleel Johnson rounded out top scoring with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Derek Rowe posted a team high 10 rebounds.
Morrisville State led just 48-43 at the break before opening the second half with a 20-6 run over the first seven minutes of the period to open the margin to a 19-point advantage.
SUNYIT was able to cut it to 15 with two straight buckets by Johnson, but Prior drained his third three of the half and second straight, sparking an 8-2 burst for a 22 point Mustang lead, which proved too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
Morrisville State hit 13 from long range throughout the contest, while shooting 51.5 percent from the floor on 34-of-66 shots.
The Mustangs will host the NEAC Championship Tournament after claiming the regular season title and will await final tournament announcements from the conference office to see who they face in the semi-finals, which should be released Monday.