Second half lifts Morrisville State men to 66-59 win over Keuka

The Morrisville State College men's basketball team outscored the Storm 40-31 in the second half, en route to the 66-59 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victory over visiting Keuka College Wednesday night in Morrisville.



Morrisville State collects their first conference win of the 2011 season to improve to 3-4 overall, 1-0 in NEAC play, while Keuka dropped to 0-6 overall, 0-1 in the conference.



Mickey Davis (Jamesville, NY) led all scorers with 18 on the night, adding six rebounds, three assists and three steals, while hitting 4-of-8 from behind the arc. Kucjok Ater (Syracuse, NY) added 14 points, 10 in the second half alone, while leading Morrisville State with 10 boards. Ater also had three assists and three blocks on the night, while Brandon Hanks (Syracuse, NY) netted 12, grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists and four steals.



Teddy Tuggles (Rochester, NY) led Keuka with 16 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists and collected three steals, while Coty Paige (Rochester, NY) added 12 points, six boards, and four steals. Conor Boyer (East Rochester, NY) had nine points in the Storm efforts, while posting a team high 10 rebounds.



Both teams got off to a slow start in the first five minutes of the contest, combining for eight points total while shooting just under 13 percent from the floor.



With Morrisville State trailing by one late in the half, Davis hit three straight from downtown to give the Mustangs a three point lead with just over a minute remaining in the period. Keuka's Boyer, however, hit a layup and Anthony Ordonez (Port Chester, NY) added a three point play, to give the Storm a 28-26 lead at the break.



In the second, Keuka maintained a narrow lead until Davis hit his fourth of the night from behind the arc, giving Morrisville State the two point advantage with 6:39 to go.



Keuka pulled to within one with just over four remaining on the clock on a layup from Brandon Franklin (Syracuse, NY), but the Mustangs posted seven quick points in 2:27 to increase the lead to eight. Tuggles then hit a three to cut it to a five point margin with under a minute to go, but Andrew Lucio (Solvay, NY) and Hanks hit the front end of a 1-in-1 to secure the conference win.



Morrisville State returns to the floor Friday night at Clarkson University. Keuka hosts SUNY Cobleskill Saturday.