Visiting Morrisville State College staged a come-from-behind victory Saturday afternoon, putting together a 17-7 run to edge host Cazenovia College by a 63-58 final in North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) action in Cazenovia.
Morrisville State improves to 17-5 overall, 11-2 in the NEAC, while Cazenovia drops to 6-16.
The Mustangs were led by Mickey Davis (Syracuse, N.Y.) who posted a high 17 points, 13 in the second half, while adding eight rebounds to his tallies. Brandon Hanks (Syracuse, N.Y.) added 12, 10 in the final period, to go along with his two assists and three steals.
Rhamel Williams (Bronx, N.Y.) snagged a team high 10 rebounds, netting seven points, while assisting five and stealing three others.
A sloppy first half composed of a combined 23 turnovers (13 by the Mustangs) led to a 28-21 Cazenovia lead at the break, and fueled the hosts an 11 point advantage early on in the second.
Back-to-back three’s sparked the Mustangs to go on a 13-3 run over a two minute span cutting the Wildcat lead to just one with 13:41 showing on the clock, but Mitch Drayton
nailed two key jumpers to regain a six point advantage for the hosts.
Trailing by eight with 7:42 remaining on the clock Morrisville State made a late run, started by Tom Wilk (Cortland, N.Y.) who came off the bench and tallied two straight buckets to get the Mustangs back to within four, before Davis tallied one of his own, and Hanks nailed one from long range to cut it to a one point deficit with 4:56 to go for the visitors.
Brandon Henry (Harlem, N.Y.) tied the contest for the fifth time with a free throw, before Jordan Prior (Cortland, N.Y.) found Hanks for an open jumper to put the Mustangs ahead by two with just over four minutes remaining.
Cazenovia was able to get to within one on a three-point play by Matt Perry, but Morrisville State remained persistent on the offensive glass and closed out the half with another layup from Davis and key free throws from Hanks down the stretch.
Morrisville State returns to the court Tuesday for the home finale, hosting SUNY Cobleskill on senior night. The tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the STUAC gymnasium.