Freshman Ryan McAdam sank the second of two free throws with :08 to play Wednesday to break a tie as Nazareth held on for a 69-68 victory over Brockport in a first-round game of the JPMorgan Chase Scholarship Basketball Tournament played at St. John Fisher.
The victory vaults fifth-seeded Nazareth into the tournament semifinals Friday at 6:15 p.m. at RIT. The Golden Flyers (5-6) will play the winner of the St. John Fisher-Keuka matchup.
McAdam's free throw enabled the Golden Flyers to negate Brockport's desperate second-half comeback that saw the fourth-seeded Golden Eagles (5-4) rally from a 40-21 halftime deficit to take the lead for much of the second half.
After McAdam's free throw, Brockport's Bryan Boswell missed a 15-foot jumper with :04 left and Nazareth's Brian Ameneiros chased down the rebound as time expired.
Nazareth, playing without senior center and leading scorer Ryan Shipley, were on the verge of posting a blowout victory in surging to a 19-point halftime lead. Nazareth made 15 of 33 first-half shots, including five three-pointers while Brockport shot just 9 for 27 and went 0 for 8 from three-point range. Freshman Joe Canori scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the first half for Nazareth.
Brockport rallied in the foul-filled second half and finally caught up with 9:41 left on a basket by David Andrew (9 points), tying the score at 50-50. Less than 30 seconds later, the Golden Eagles took the lead on a free throw by Ben Bellucci (20 points). Nazareth stayed close and finally regained the lead, 68-67, on a pair of free throws by Canori with :30 left. With :15 left, Boswell (13 points) made one of two free throws for Brockport to tie the score again, 68-68.
After McAdam broke free in the lane, he was fouled in the act of shooting to set the stage for the game-winning foul shot. McAdam finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Matt Groot added nine points and seven rebounds.
Each team was whistled for 24 fouls, including 17 each in a drawn-out second half. Kyle Nelson and Caswell Smith each fouled out for Nazareth with more than five minutes left.
Newspaper Box Score No. 4 Nazareth vs Brockport 01/12/05 6:15 p.m. at Pittsford,NY: Manning-Napier Varsity Gym At Pittsford,NY: Manning-Napier Varsity Gym NO. 4 NAZARETH 69, BROCKPORT 68 NO. 4 NAZARETH (5-6) Joe Canori 6-13 7-8 21; Ryan McAdam 7-14 2-4 18; Matt Groot 1-7 7-8 9; Kyle Nelson 3-6 1-2 7; Caswell Smith 2-5 3-7 7; Brian Ameneiros 0-2 4-6 4; Mike DeBlois 1-2 0-0 3; Tyler Smith 0-1 0-0 0; Tim Slakas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-50 24-35 69. BROCKPORT (5-4) BELLUCCI, Ben 7-16 6-12 20; BOSWELL, Bryan 5-11 3-5 13; WILLIAMS, Brandon 3-4 6-6 12; RUBERTONE, Dan 4-10 2-2 10; ANDREWS, David 4-10 1-1 9; SKRINE, Kellan 1-3 0-0 2; AMPARO, Kenny 1-1 0-2 2; PODGORSKI, Greg 0-0 0-0 0; BROOKS, Bobby 0-0 0-0 0; HEPBURN, Charles 0-1 0-0 0; HARRIS, Shawn 0-0 0-0 0; CARROLL, Brian 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-57 18-28 68. No. 4 Nazareth................ 40 29 - 69 Brockport..................... 21 47 - 68 3-point goals-No. 4 Nazareth 5-13 (Ryan McAdam 2-4; Joe Canori 2-6; Mike DeBlois 1-1; Matt Groot 0-2), Brockport 0-10 (BELLUCCI, Ben 0-3; BOSWELL, Bryan 0-2; ANDREWS, David 0-2; SKRINE, Kellan 0-1; HEPBURN, Charles 0-1; CARROLL, Brian 0-1). Fouled out--No. 4 Nazareth-Kyle Nelson; Caswell Smith, Brockport-None. Rebounds-No. 4 Nazareth 37 (Matt Groot 7), Brockport 38 (BELLUCCI, Ben 9). Assists-No. 4 Nazareth 10 (Brian Ameneiros 3), Brockport 10 (BOSWELL, Bryan 3). Total fouls-No. 4 Nazareth 24, Brockport 24. A-500 Quarterfinals of the 39th Annual JPMorgan Chase Scholarship Tournament Nazareth's Ryan McAdam made 1-of-2 of free throws with 7.5 seconds left Nazareth will play winner of Fisher/Keuka at 6:15 p.m. Friday @ RIT Brockport will play loser of the Fisher/Keuka game at 1:30 p.m.