PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - It was a split night for the top-seeded teams in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball First Round competition hosted by Plattsburgh State. Medaille came back to triumph over lower-seeded Nazareth, 78-72, in overtime in the first game, while the Cardinals fell to SUNYIT, 65-71, in regulation.
Medaille (24-4) and SUNYIT (25-4) continue on to tomorrow's second round game that will decide which squad gets a shot at the Sweet 16. Meanwhile, Plattsburgh (21-8) and Nazareth (18-10) have their seasons cut short.
In the first game, Nazareth pulled ahead and led 36-31 entering halftime. The Golden Flyers continued to lead throughout the entire second half. After trailing by as much as 12, the Mavericks surged back and tied the game at 65 with a buzzer-beating jumper by Keith Hack. Hack was assisted on the play by Ben Kopp.
Medaille scored first during the five minute overtime period. Once again, it was Hack with a jumper. Hack gave the Mavericks their largest lead since the first half when he sank a shot from the charity stripe, placing Medaille up, 74-69, with 38 seconds left on the clock. Ron Malicki would score the next four points for the Mavericks and helped secure the win.
Nazareth's last three points came from a jumper and a free-throw shot made by Corey McAdam.
Diloo Brown hit a three-pointer 34 seconds into the Wildcats game against the Cardinals and continued to sink rainbows throughout the night, helping his team to victory. Brown led the night with 31 points, going 6-for-11 from behind the arc. Floyd Fitzpatrick Thorne sank 15 points for SUNYIT and David Golembiowski recorded a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Plattsburgh just could not seem to find it footing during the first half. The Cards shot only 36.4% (12-33) from the field and 33.3% (4-12) from behind the arc. The squad improved in the second and managed to sink 15 of 34 (44.1%) shots from the field.
It looked like Plattsburgh might have a chance when Chris Ruiz hit a jumper to put the team within three of their visitors, 64-67, with 1:10 left in regulation. After leading all but 1:20 of the game, however, SUNYIT was not willing to let the win slip through its fingers. The Wildcats answered back with two made free-throws by Golembiowski and a commanding dunk by Fitzpatrick Thorne with a second left to play. Steve Thomas made and missed a free-throw attempt each after the Wildcats bench received a technical foul because the overzealous players crashed the court too soon in celebration.
Ruiz and Thomas led the scoring charge for the Cardinals, sinking 18 points apiece. Errol Daniyan was close behind with 17 and led the team with nine boards. Thomas also dished out a game-high six assists.
As they are higher in the bracket, SUNYIT will be the home team when it takes on Medaille tomorrow at 7 p.m. in Memorial Hall.
