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Saints men's basketball rally past Pioneers, 62-56

Posted 12/1/14

he St. Lawrence University men's basketball team rallied from nine points down for a 62-56 victory over Utica College on Sunday at the Hamilton Invitational in Clinton, NY. The Saints, who were led …

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Saints men's basketball rally past Pioneers, 62-56

Posted

he St. Lawrence University men's basketball team rallied from nine points down for a 62-56 victory over Utica College on Sunday at the Hamilton Invitational in Clinton, NY. The Saints, who were led by Willie Zachery's career-high 24 points, used a 39-25 rebounding advantage to defeat the Pioneers and earn a weekend sweep.

The Saints (2-2) scored 17 second chance points behind the rebounding advantage, while holding the Pioneers (2-4) without a single offensive rebound in the second half. Robert Tutein led Utica with 22 points, while Conor Maisch added 11 points and six assists. Captain Brady Condlin had 12 points and Kieran Miller added eight for St. Lawrence, as both players and Zachery each had seven rebounds in the game.

"Willie and Brady played very well today, while the younger guys are continuing to grow up and define their roles," said St. Lawrence head coach Chris Downs. "I'm proud of the entire team. Our home opener against Plattsburgh State on Tuesday will be an extremely tough test."

Utica College opened hot from the floor, building a 12-3 lead behind Tutein just 2:28 into the half. St. Lawrence would respond with an impressive 18-4 run which included a three by Kyle Kobis and back-to-back buckets from Miller, swinging the momentum in the Saints favor up 21-16 midway through the half. The Pioneers reclaimed the lead with consecutive threes by Maisch and Tutein, but a last-minute jumper by Zachery pulled St. Lawrence within a possession, down 31-28 at halftime.

The Pioneers stretched their lead to nine early in the second half on a layup by Mark Felicia at 43-34 with 13:37 to play. However, St. Lawrence would chip away, and three pointers by Zachery and Marty Collins would help the Scarlet and Brown to a 15-4 run and a 49-47 lead with 7:23 remaining.

Zachery would continue to thrive late, hitting a clutch three and another jumper for a 56-54 St. Lawrence lead with 2:44 left. With the Saints defense holding Utica to an 0-for-3 mark from the field and a turnover in the final 2:30 of regulation, Zachery clinched the win with a layup with 13 seconds left to put his team up by four, 60-56. Leondre Simmon knocked down two free throws in the final seconds to bring the game to its final of 62-56.

Though Tutein had 18 points in the first half, the Saints defense allowed him just four in the second thanks to a 20-9 rebounding advantage in the period.

St. Lawrence will host Plattsburgh State (3-1) on Tuesday, December 2 in the Burkman Gymnasium at 8:00pm.