The Morrisville State College men’s basketball team heads into the holiday break on a high posting an 82-66 non-conference victory over visiting Hamilton College Saturday afternoon in Morrisville.
The win lifts the Mustangs to 5-4 overall, while the Continentals are even at 5-5.
Kucjok Ater (Syracuse, N.Y.) led all scorers on the day, posting 22 points for Morrisville State, 17 alone in the second half, while adding six rebounds to his tallies. Three additional Mustangs posted double figures in the win, including Rhamel Williams (Bronx, N.Y.) who added 12, hitting 8-of-11 from the charity stripe, while grabbing nine total boards for Morrisville State, six on the offensive glass. Jordan Prior (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Brandon Henry (Harlem, N.Y.) each came off the bench to contribute 11, hitting a combined 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, while dishing out a total five assists.
Matt Hart (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Joseph Lin (Palo Alto, Cali.) paced the Continentals with 13 apiece, with Lin adding four assists and Hart two, in the Hamilton efforts. Peter Kazickas (Amagansett, N.Y.) rounded out top scorers with 12. Bradley Gifford (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded eight rebounds to lead the Continentals in the rebounding game.
With the lead changing 10 times alone in the first half, Ater completed a three-point play with 3:10 to go in the period, and Prior added a three less than a minute later, giving the Mustangs the 31-28 edge at the break.
Morrisville State jumped out to a nine point lead just three minutes into the second half,
before Hamilton chipped away to cut it to four with 15:37 to go. The Mustangs then posted a 10-5 run to regain the nine point advantage with just over 12 minutes remaining and increased the lead to double digits behind a fast break lay-up by Jailaan Kinsey (Syracuse, N.Y.) with 7:43 left.
Kazickas brought the Continentals as close as seven with a lay-up with nearly five minutes remaining, but Ater added two quick scores to regain the 11 point lead for Morrisville State. The Mustangs closed out the final 3:40 outscoring Hamilton 13-8 for the win.
Morrisville State shot 67.9 percent from the floor in the second, nailing 19-of-28 shots to hold the 51-38 advantage over Hamilton in the period, finishing the contest 30-of-58 from the floor (51.7%).
The Mustangs resume action Sunday, Jan. 6 at North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) opponent Penn State Abington.