The win improved the Garnet’s record to 11-10, 5-5 in the circuit, which puts them in the fourth and final position for the league’s championship tournament. Hamilton, meanwhile, fell to third place in the league with a record of 5-4 and dropped the Continentals overall standard to 10-9.
Nick Jones’ three-pointer gave Hamilton a 67-61 lead, but that was the last point the Continentals would get from the file as they Union’s swarming defense forced them to miss on their final five attempts, all of which came from outside the arch. The Dutchmen, meanwhile, closed to within four on a layup by senior forward Devon Bruce, 67-63, got a layup from freshman forward Kyle Grimm to make it 67-65 and tied it at 67 on a bucket by junior guard John Cagianello with 2:28 left to play.
Junior point guard Chris Murphy gave the Dutchmen a 68-67 lead at 1:27 as he connected on the second of two field goals before Grimm’s second charity shot found its mark to up Union’s advantage to 69-67 with 48 seconds showing. Cagianello calmly sank both of his free throw attempts to make it 71-67 thus completing the 10-0 run with just 14 seconds showing. Jones finally broke Hamilton’s dry spell with a foul shot with five ticks left before junior forward Brian Scordato rounded out the final margin by sinking a pair of free throws.
Hamilton took a 42-38 lead into the locker room after Jones knocked down a turn around three at the buzzer. Jones ended the half hitting all four of his field goal attempts including a pair of three’s and all four of his charity shots. His shooting helped the Continentals to a first-half field goal percentage of 77.8 (14 of 18).
Union, however, also had a solid 20 minutes of shooting as it connected on 13 of its 23 attempts (56.5%). The Continentals four-point halftime advantage equaled the biggest lead enjoyed by either team during the half. Union led by four five times while Hamilton enjoyed the cushion four times.
Jones finished with 23 points while Mike Evans contributed 12 markers. Tim Welchons handed out five assists for the Continentals.
Bruce finished with 16 point for the Dutchmen while Cagianello contributed 13 points and sophomore guard Joe Mackey 15. Murphy ended with five assists and three steals while Scordato grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
Hamilton College vs Union College Dutchmen 2/6/05 4:00 at Schenectady,NY At Schenectady,NY UNION COLLEGE DUTCHMEN 73, HAMILTON COLLEGE 68 HAMILTON COLLEGE (10-9//5-4) Nick Jones 7-9 5-8 23; Mike Evans 4-8 1-1 12; Tsakani Ngobeni 3-5 1-2 8; Tim Welchons 2-7 2-2 7; Giorgi Chavleishvili 3-4 1-2 7; Staunton Peck 1-1 4-4 6; Phil Valenti 1-5 2-2 5; John Fleming 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-40 16-21 68. UNION COLLEGE DUTCHMEN (11-10//5-5) Devon Bruce 7-7 2-3 16; John Cagianello 4-4 4-4 13; Joe Mackey 4-9 1-2 12; Brian Scordato 3-8 2-2 9; Kyle Grimm 2-2 4-6 8; Chris Murphy 1-4 3-4 6; James Rahill 1-3 2-2 5; T.J. Ramey 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 24-42 18-23 73. Hamilton College.............. 42 26 - 68 Union College Dutchmen........ 38 35 - 73 3-point goals-Hamilton College 10-22 (Nick Jones 4-6; Mike Evans 3-7; Tim Welchons 1-3; Tsakani Ngobeni 1-1; Phil Valenti 1-5), Union College Dutchmen 7-18 (Joe Mackey 3-6; Brian Scordato 1-5; James Rahill 1-2; Chris Murphy 1-2; John Cagianello 1-1; T.J. Ramey 0-2). Fouled out--Hamilton College-None, Union College Dutchmen-None. Rebounds-Hamilton College 19 (Tsakani Ngobeni 4; Tim Welchons 4), Union College Dutchmen 24 (Brian Scordato 6). Assists-Hamilton College 13 (Tim Welchons 5), Union College Dutchmen 13 (Chris Murphy 5). Total fouls-Hamilton College 23, Union College Dutchmen 18.