By Brandy Thurston, Director of Sports Information
(Morrisville, NY – Feb. 7, 2014) The Morrisville State College men’s basketball team avenged an early season loss to the ChargersFriday night, thundering past visiting Lancaster Bible College 94-86 in North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) action in Morrisville.
The win pulls the Mustangs to within a half game of the Chargers, who currently sit in the top spot in the NEAC with a 9-2 conference record, 11-7 overall stint. Morrisville State improves to 13-6 overall, 9-3 in conference play, as they increased their run to seven straight in the win column.
The Mustangs put together an offensive attack that caught the Chargers on their heels, as four posted double figures, including two that matched career highs. Jordan Prior (Cortland, N.Y.) matched his career best 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor, draining 7-of-11 from beyond the arc, while adding three assists to his tallies. Tom Wilk (Cortland, N.Y.) also matched his career high, registering 21 for the Mustangs on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor and adding 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year.
Brandon Hanks (Syracuse, N.Y.) had a near triple-double, chipping in 15 points and snagging 10 rebounds, while dishing out eight assists as teammate Kucjok Ater (Syracuse, N.Y.) added 11 points and three assists in the winning efforts.
CJ Dunston registered a collegiate high 32 points to lead the Lancaster Bible charge, hitting near perfect from the floor on 10-of-12 shots, while collecting a team high seven rebounds and three steals. Naheer Mirza added 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting from long range, while teammate Albert Suniga had 12 points, posting the double-double with 10 assists.
Dave Long rounded out the leaders with 10 points.
Morrisville State jumped out to an early nine point lead in the opening three minutes of the contest for an 11-2 advantage, and increased it to as many as 13 midway through the period before the Chargers went on a 7-2 spurt to get back the game.
Prior nailed back-to-back three’s for the Mustangs to regain the double digit lead with 5:33 to go, but Lancaster Bible went on a 10-0 spurt to make it a two point game with just over four minutes to go in the half.
With time winding down in the half, Morrisville State maintained the slim lead over the visitors, and with 43 ticks to go before the break, Prior nailed his fifth long ball of the half to give the Mustangs an eight point cushion. A last shot attempt by Suniga fell short, giving the ball back to the hosts with five seconds showing on the clock.
As time expired, Nick Granato (Auburn, N.Y.) launched the ball from near half court and banked it off the backboard to send the game into the break with a 51-40 Morrisville State lead.
In the second, Morrisville State increased their lead to 22, opening with a 13-2 run over the first four minutes, and maintained the double digit lead until the 3:24 mark when Lancaster Bible, trailing by 13, went on a 10-2 run to make it a five point game with 1:23 to go in regulation.
Hanks converted two free throws for the Mustangs to increase the lead to seven, but Trevor Marsh nailed a three from the corner to make it a four point game with 58 seconds to go.
Prior answered with one of his own on the ensuing Morrisville State possession, nailing the long ball from the top of the key as time expired on the shot clock for the seven point Mustang advantage.
Within seconds, the Chargers drained another from beyond the arc, this time on the right wing of the key, making it a four point game with 18 seconds to go, but Hanks converted all four free throw attempts down the stretch and limited Lancaster to two forced shots in an attempt to even the contest.
The Mustangs shot 54.8 percent from the floor on the night, including 51.9 percent from downtown, while Lancaster Bible hit 32-of-65 shots (49.2%) on the night, while hitting 9-of-19 three-pointers, including four in a two minute stretch late in the second half.